Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Increases Dividend to $0.31 Per Share

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Cognizant Technology Solutions has raised its dividend by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a payout ratio of 22.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 up $3.49 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $87.09. 6,310,540 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,998,461. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $87.61. The stock has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CTSH shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.22.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.