Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Short Interest Update

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,310,000 shares, a drop of 13.3% from the January 15th total of 18,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of CTSH stock traded down $1.93 on Tuesday, hitting $88.77. 7,778,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,273,330. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $90.82.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $527,719,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,633,987 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $433,254,000 after buying an additional 1,990,515 shares during the period. AE Industrial Partners LP purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,088,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 98.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,742,442 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $210,894,000 after buying an additional 1,363,570 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.67.

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.