Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH Stake Lessened by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management cut its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 52,689 shares worth about $4.37 million.
• Analysts remain cautious: recent target cuts came from DBS Bank, UBS, and Evercore, while the stock’s overall consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $73.00.
• Cognizant still posted solid results and returned capital to shareholders, reporting Q1 earnings of $1.40 per share versus $1.33 expected, plus a quarterly dividend and a new $2 billion stock buyback authorization.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,689 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 25,280 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $4,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter worth $4,422,000. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 306,078 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $20,529,000 after acquiring an additional 43,252 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 62.6% during the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 24,622 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,482 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 863,720 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $57,930,000 after acquiring an additional 45,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 193,464 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $12,976,000 after acquiring an additional 19,177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore cut their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $100.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $52.75 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.48 and a fifty-two week high of $87.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $57.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.81. 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 $25.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.81.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 10.41%.The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.630-5.770 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.70%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.

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