Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised Cognizant’s price target from $61 to $67 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 28.23% upside. However, the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with a $61.61 target.
• CTSH shares fell 6.6% to $52.25 after the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.37, narrowly missing estimates, while revenue rose 4.5% year over year to $5.48 billion.
• Cognizant raised its fiscal 2026 EPS guidance to $5.70–$5.82 and authorized a $2 billion share-repurchase program, though cautious client IT spending and modest near-term revenue guidance remain concerns.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $67.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the information technology service provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential upside of 28.23% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CTSH. Evercore cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $100.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $62.00 to $47.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.61.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 6.6%

Shares of CTSH stock traded down $3.72 on Thursday, hitting $52.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,628,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,288,748. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.87. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $37.08 and a fifty-two week high of $87.03. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 10.41%.The business had revenue of $5.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.700-5.820 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology service provider to buy up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 165.1% in the 4th quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 342 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Cognizant Technology Solutions

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognizant Technology Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher full-year EPS outlook and solid Q2 execution: Cognizant reported $5.48 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 4.5% year over year and in line with expectations. Adjusted EPS was $1.37, just below the $1.38 consensus, while operating margin improved to 16.0%. The company raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.70–$5.82 from a prior outlook that was lower, supporting the bullish reaction. Cognizant Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Bookings and financial-services growth point to demand resilience: Trailing 12-month bookings increased 5% to $29.1 billion, while Financial Services revenue grew 12%. Cognizant also repurchased approximately $1.1 billion of stock during the quarter, providing additional support for per-share results. Cognizant Q2 Revenue Rises
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related catalysts are attracting investor interest: Cognizant’s expanded partnership with Anthropic and efforts to help enterprises adopt agentic AI strengthen the company’s positioning in a growing services market. William Blair also initiated coverage with a Buy rating, citing margin expansion, financial-services growth and AI-driven demand. Cognizant Anthropic Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder returns remain a support: Cognizant declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, equivalent to an approximately 2.4% annualized yield at the referenced price level. Cognizant Dividend Information
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term spending caution limits the upside: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $5.6–$5.7 billion was at or below analyst expectations as clients remain cautious on discretionary IT spending. The small EPS miss and revised 2026 revenue-growth outlook of 4.0%–5.5% also indicate that AI investment is not yet fully offsetting softer traditional technology-services demand. Cognizant Forecasts Weak Quarterly Revenue

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions NASDAQ: CTSH is a global professional services company that provides information technology, consulting and business process services to large enterprises. Its core offerings include digital engineering, application development and maintenance, cloud migration and managed services, data analytics and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and industry-specific solutions. Cognizant works with clients to design and implement technology-enabled transformations that address customer experience, operational efficiency and new product and service delivery.

Founded in the 1990s and headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, Cognizant has grown into a multinational organization with delivery centers and operations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.