Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (CTSH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.31 on February 26th

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the information technology service provider on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Cognizant Technology Solutions has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a dividend payout ratio of 23.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Cognizant Technology Solutions to earn $5.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.3%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $90.70 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.35 and a 200-day moving average of $78.11. The company has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CTSH shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.