Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH Stock Position Lowered by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,518,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,693,289 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.38% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $399,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 159.6% in the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 120,461 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $7,390,000 after acquiring an additional 74,062 shares in the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $394,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,138.8% in the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 38,738 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 35,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,404,918 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $392,947,000 after purchasing an additional 222,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $43.63 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.32. The stock has a market cap of $20.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a one year low of $37.08 and a one year high of $87.03.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.41 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 17.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.630-5.770 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, May 18th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology service provider to buy up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Evercore reduced their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $100.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $87.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wedbush upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $59.00 target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.26.

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.