Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group acquired a new stake of 43,147 CTSH shares in Q3 (≈$2.89M); institutional investors now own 92.44% of the company, with large positions held by Norges Bank (≈$487.5M) and Vanguard (≈59.85M shares, ≈$4.67B).
• Wall Street is mixed: ten analysts rate CTSH a Buy and twelve a Hold, yielding a MarketBeat consensus of Hold and a consensus price target of $90.17, though several firms (Berenberg, Guggenheim, William Blair) have recently issued more positive ratings or higher targets.
• Cognizant modestly beat quarterly expectations (EPS $1.35 vs $1.32; revenue $5.33B vs $5.31B), set FY2026 EPS guidance of 5.56–5.70, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.33 (annualized $1.32, ≈2.1% yield).

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 43,147 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,894,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $487,526,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 59.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,778,252 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $253,407,000 after buying an additional 1,407,776 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,176,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,854,530 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $4,670,449,000 after buying an additional 746,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,085,998 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $609,398,000 after acquiring an additional 639,801 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank set a $107.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. William Blair raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.17.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $62.98 on Wednesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 52-week low of $60.03 and a 52-week high of $87.03. The stock has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $75.34 and its 200-day moving average is $74.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.14.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information technology service provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.31 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 10.56%.Cognizant Technology Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, Director Michael Patsalos-Fox sold 7,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.52, for a total transaction of $584,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,986,326.08. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 2,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.06, for a total transaction of $250,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,277.54. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,809 shares of company stock valued at $2,010,778. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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