Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH Shares Bought by Auto Owners Insurance Co

Key Points

• Auto Owners Insurance Co dramatically increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter, boosting holdings by 8,200% to 849,256 shares worth about $7.0 million.
• Analysts have turned more cautious on CTSH, with several firms cutting price targets; the stock now has a consensus Hold rating and an average target price of $72.50.
• Cognizant reported quarterly EPS of $1.40, topping estimates, and the company also authorized a $2 billion share buyback while paying a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share.

Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 8,200.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 849,256 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 839,024 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned 0.18% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $7,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 118.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 569 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the first quarter worth about $142,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.4% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 9,160 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 231.4% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 29,667 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 20,716 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $92.00 to $74.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $98.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $62.00 price target (down from $71.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $100.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.50.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $43.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.81. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $53.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.75. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.40 and a 1-year high of $87.03.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.70%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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