Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the information technology service provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.66% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.39.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.4 %

CTSH opened at $77.15 on Wednesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $62.14 and a fifty-two week high of $80.27. The company has a market capitalization of $38.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.51.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,419,812.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,111,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,860,483,000 after buying an additional 7,445,089 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $406,360,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after buying an additional 3,000,996 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,265,473,000 after buying an additional 1,943,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,861.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,686,597 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $127,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,621 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.