Westpac Banking Corp Raises Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 20.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,569 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,779 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $3,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,348,442 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,047,570,000 after purchasing an additional 493,912 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,381,572 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,980,524,000 after buying an additional 157,427 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 17,710,868 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,187,868,000 after buying an additional 260,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,019,891 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,091,391,000 after acquiring an additional 206,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $487,526,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,920. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Patsalos-Fox sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.52, for a total value of $584,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,986,326.08. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,434 shares of company stock worth $2,460,809. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $61.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.42. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 1 year low of $60.03 and a 1 year high of $87.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.14.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information technology service provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 10.56%.The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Monday, December 8th. William Blair raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $83.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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.