Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 32,044 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.7% to approximately $22.87 million, holding 298,945 shares after selling 32,044 shares in Q1.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Cognizant, with TD Securities increasing the price target to $79.00 while Guggenheim upgraded it to a "buy" with a target of $90.00.
• Cognizant reported Q2 earnings of $1.31 per share, beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31, yielding 1.7% annually.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 298,945 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 32,044 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $22,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,077,445 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $923,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,265 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $520,651,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677,145 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.9% in 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 increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,960,206 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $458,340,000 after acquiring an additional 831,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven 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 target price of $86.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH traded up $0.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.25. The stock had a trading volume of 2,592,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,104,493. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 52 week low of $65.52 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 16.77%. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.080-5.220 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is 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.