Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.31

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 0.31 per share by the information technology service provider on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Cognizant Technology Solutions has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a dividend payout ratio of 22.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cognizant Technology Solutions to earn $4.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $86.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,909,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,039,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $87.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.52. The stock has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. On average, analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.22.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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.