Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Free Report) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,525,690 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,936 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.50% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $164,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 28,448 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 4,066 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 416,924 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $25,403,000 after acquiring an additional 23,883 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 19,323 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,458 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $393,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CTSH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.94.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $71.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.79. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $54.25 and a 12 month high of $72.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 17.54%. The company had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 20th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.22%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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