Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.0%, ending the first quarter with 73,094 shares valued at approximately $5.59 million.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target for Cognizant shares from $101.00 to $89.00, while several analysts have given the stock a mix of "buy" and "hold" ratings, resulting in an average target price of $86.79.
• Cognizant's latest quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.31, exceeding expectations and representing an annual revenue growth of 8.1%.

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,094 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 3,841 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,077,445 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $923,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,265 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 117.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,805,893 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $520,651,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,145 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,458,318 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $494,061,000 after acquiring an additional 579,175 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,029,067 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $461,169,000 after acquiring an additional 28,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,519,912 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $331,584,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $101.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.79.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,206,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,821,802. The company has a market capitalization of $34.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.52 and a 1-year high of $90.82. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $72.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.65.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.17 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.77% and a net margin of 11.89%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.080-5.220 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.20%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology.