Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 126,276 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,358,272 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,276 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $292,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Security National Bank of SO Dak raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 24,785 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Haven Private LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.9% in the third quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 8,451 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 8,400 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.7% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,846 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 43,152 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,894,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Argus upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 target price (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 price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.17.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $62.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.93 and its 200 day moving average is $74.02. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $60.03 and a fifty-two week 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information technology service provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 29.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Surya Gummadi sold 1,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.06, for a total transaction of $143,527.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,741.46. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael Patsalos-Fox sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.23, for a total value of $168,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,504,073.67. The trade was a 6.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 16,809 shares of company stock valued at $1,426,138 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.