Share Repurchase Plan Approved by Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Board

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CTSH. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $77.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.47. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

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.