Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) finished Wednesday with an addition of $0.87 to close at $70.46, an upside of 1.25 percent. An average of 3,263,520 shares of common stock have been traded in the last five days. There was a gain of $1.23 in the past week, and it reached a new high 8 times over the past 12 months. The last 20 days have seen an average of 4,221,265 shares traded, while the 50-day average volume stands at 3,901,730.
CTSH stock has increased by 3.86% in the last month. The company shares reached their 1-month lowest point of $64.68 on 08/02/23. With the stock rallying to its 52-week high on 08/07/23, shares of the company touched a low of $51.33 and a high of $72.71 in 52 weeks. It has reached a new high 11 times so far this year and achieved 23.20% or $13.27 in price. In spite of this, the price is down -3.09% from the 52-week high.
Insider Transactions
CTSH stock investors should be aware that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH) stock had its last reported insider trading activity 73 days ago on Jun 12. In this transaction, the insider spent $434,875. Director, Mackay Leo S. Jr., disposed of 4,473 shares at a price of $61.99 on Jun 09. The insider now owns more than $277,294 worth of shares. Prior to that, EVP & Pres, Global Growth Mkts Walker Robert C. went on to Sale 7,000 shares at $63.72 each on Jun 02. An amount of $446,058 was transacted.
Valuation Metrics
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH) has a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.43. The stock’s beta is 1.07. Other valuation ratios to consider include the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio at 1.84, the price-to-book (PB) ratio at 2.76, and the price-to-cash flow ratio at 16.51.
The company has a payout ratio of 19.30%. The company’s most recent quarterly dividend payment was $0.29 a share, without any change from last year. Its latest increase dividend $0.02 reported on Thursday February 2 2023.
Financial Health
The quick ratio of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation for the three months ended June 29 was 2.30, and the current ratio was 2.30, indicating that the company is able to meet its debt obligations. Further, the company has a long term debt to equity ratio of 0.05 and a total debt to equity ratio of 0.05 for the quarter ending June 29. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s EBITDA margin for the year ending June 29 is 18.28%, while its operating margin for the same period stands at 14.20%. Its gross profit as reported stood at $6.98 billion compared to revenue of $19.43 billion.
Earnings Surprise
For the three-month period that ended June 29, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation had $622.0 million in total debt. In the quarter under review, the net income was up than the previous quarter. The company posted a net income of $463.0 million in the quarter, while revenues were shrunk -24.62%. The analyst consensus anticipated Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s latest quarter earnings to come in at $0.99 per share, but it turned out to be $1.1, a 11.10% surprise. For the quarter, EBITDA amounted to $718.0 million. Shareholders own equity worth $505.04 million.
Technical Picture
From a technical analysis perspective, let’s take a brief look at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH) price momentum. RSI 9-day as of the close on 23 August was 60.59%, suggesting the stock is Neutral, with historical volatility in this time frame at 19.25%.
As of today, CTSH’s price is $69.34 +1.78% or $1.23 from its 5-day moving average. CTSH is currently trading +3.98% higher than its 20-day SMA and +17.81% higher than its 100-day SMA. However, the stock’s current price level is +11.28% above the SMA50 and +35.60% above the SMA200.
The stochastic %K and %D were 44.30% and 47.06%, respectively, and the average true range (ATR) was 1.27. With the 14-day stochastic at 50.60% and the average true range at 1.32, the RSI (14) stands at 59.40%. The stock has reached -0.01 on the 9-day MACD Oscillator while the 14-day reading was at -0.40.
Analyst Ratings
JP Morgan upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) to a a Neutral rating in its most recent analyst report. Previously, the stock was rated as an Underweight. The consensus rating for Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH) among analysts is Hold. According to current brokerage recommendations, 4 brokerage firms advise that investors sell CTSH, while 18 suggest investors hold. There are 1 analyst who rate the stock as underweight. The stock is rated overweight by 0 analysts, while 5 others rate it as a “buy”.
What is CTSH’s price target for the next 12 months?
Analysts predict a range of price targets between $60.00 and $87.00, with a median target of $72.50. Taking a look at these predictions, the average price target given by analysts for Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH) stock is $71.66.
