Barclays PLC Purchases 188,331 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Key Points

• Barclays PLC increased its Cognizant Technology Solutions stake by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 188,331 shares and bringing its total holding to 2,011,060 shares worth about $166.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 92.44% of Cognizant’s stock. Several firms, including Norges Bank and GQG Partners, also added new positions during the period.
• Analysts are cautious overall: recent target-price changes were mixed, and the stock currently carries a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $73.50.

Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,011,060 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 188,331 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.42% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $166,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $690,959,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $673,651,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter worth about $201,834,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $234,671,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 801.4% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,104,276 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $141,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870,834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Berenberg Bank dropped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $107.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $50.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.48 and a fifty-two week high of $87.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.53. The company has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.41 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 10.41%.The business's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.630-5.770 EPS. Analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.70%.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CTSH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report).

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.