Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Cognizant Technology Solutions stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 88,777 shares and leaving it with 4.27 million shares valued at about $354.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with funds making mixed moves in the stock; overall, institutions own 92.44% of Cognizant shares.
• Analysts have turned somewhat more cautious, with several firms lowering price targets and the stock now carrying a Hold consensus rating with an average target of $73.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,269,495 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 88,777 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.88% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $354,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter worth about $201,834,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 144.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,631,890 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $176,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,648 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $84,574,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,534,198 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $840,669,000 after purchasing an additional 987,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Dbs Bank reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $98.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

CTSH opened at $51.81 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $56.71 and its 200-day moving average is $69.51. The stock has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.48 and a twelve month high of $87.03.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is currently 28.70%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, May 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology service provider to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally 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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