Cognizant Technology Solutions
CTSH on Nasdaq. Cognizant sells technology consulting and outsourcing services to businesses. Market value $26.2bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Worth a closer look
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
Nothing stood out in the numbers we check.
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $9.92 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 7.8 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 20 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 99 of 100. Price score: 100 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$58.17 a share, 57% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $37.08 to $87.03.
Dividend: 2.3% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Monday’s close (5 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $18.5bn | $19.4bn | $19.4bn | $19.7bn | $21.1bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 15.3% | 15.3% | 13.9% | 14.7% | 16.1% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.04 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.51bn | 0.50bn | 0.50bn | 0.48bn | 0.47bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)8 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.04× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 4.9% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 8% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $5.5 billion last quarter, up 5% on a year ago.
- Profit: $636 million, down 1% on a year ago.
- It keeps 16 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, up from 15 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $2.6 billion, up from $2.3 billion.
- 5% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $522 million more than cash. A year ago it had $1.2 billion more cash than debt.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $5.0bn |
| December 2024 | $5.1bn |
| March 2025 | $5.1bn |
| June 2025 | $5.2bn |
| September 2025 | $5.4bn |
| December 2025 | $5.3bn |
| March 2026 | $5.4bn |
| June 2026 | $5.5bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $582m |
| December 2024 | $546m |
| March 2025 | $663m |
| June 2025 | $645m |
| September 2025 | $274m |
| December 2025 | $648m |
| March 2026 | $662m |
| June 2026 | $636m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 28 October 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 12 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 28 October 2026
Who owns it
13 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 12 last quarter. 914 funds in all.
- Dodge & CoxDodge & Cox investment committee
- Value
- $563m
- Share of fund
- 0.3%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pzena Investment ManagementRichard Pzena | $1.0bn | 3.0% | Added |
| Dodge & CoxDodge & Cox investment committee | $563m | 0.3% | |
| Hotchkis & WileyHotchkis & Wiley team | $192m | 0.6% | Added |
| Yacktman Asset ManagementStephen Yacktman | $122m | 1.5% | Added |
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $104m | 0.2% | Added |
| Brandes Investment PartnersCharles Brandes | $99m | 0.7% | Cut |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $40m | <0.1% | Cut |
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $26m | <0.1% | Added |
| Causeway Capital ManagementSarah Ketterer | $19m | 0.2% | Cut |
| Semper AugustusChristopher Bloomstran | $15m | 1.7% | New |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $10m | <0.1% | Added |
| Jensen Investment ManagementEric Schoenstein | $4m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $779,170 | 0.1% | Cut |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$1.8bnAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$1.2bn
- Pzena Investment Management$1.0bnAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$1.0bn
- State Street$980mAdded
- Invesco$702mCut
- JPMorgan Chase$579mCut
- Geode Capital Management$575m
- Dodge & Cox$563m
- Banque Cantonale Vaudoise$406mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
5 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor8.6%Since 31 March 2025
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- Invesco Ltd.Passive investor5.9%Since 31 March 2026
- Pzena Investment ManagementPassive investor5.7%Since 30 June 2026
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor5.5%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 8.6% | 31 March 2025 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Invesco Ltd. Passive investor | 5.9% | 31 March 2026 | |
Pzena Investment Management Passive investor | 5.7% | 30 June 2026 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 5.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 1 insider bought $209,768 of shares on the open market. 6 sold $6m, $6m of it under preset trading plans.
- Kerdman AlinaSVP, Controller & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 30 September 2026
- Shares
- 139
- Price
- $56.88
- Value
- $7,906
- Kerdman AlinaSVP, Controller & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 14 September 2026
- Shares
- 134
- Price
- $62.40
- Value
- $8,362
- Kim John SunshinCLO, CAO & Corporate SecretarySoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 2 September 2026
- Shares
- 2,500
- Price
- $63.37
- Value
- $158,431
- Kerdman AlinaSVP, Controller & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 31 August 2026
- Shares
- 144
- Price
- $63.34
- Value
- $9,121
- Dalal Jatin PChief Financial OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 3 August 2026
- Shares
- 12,000
- Price
- $55.76
- Value
- $669,168
- Kim John SunshinCLO, CAO & Corporate SecretarySoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 3 August 2026
- Shares
- 2,500
- Price
- $57.05
- Value
- $142,625
- Kerdman AlinaSVP, Controller & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 1 July 2026
- Shares
- 137
- Price
- $39.82
- Value
- $5,455
- Kerdman AlinaSVP, Controller & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 15 June 2026
- Shares
- 133
- Price
- $51.70
- Value
- $6,876
- ROHLEDER STEPHEN JDirectorBought
- Date
- 10 June 2026
- Shares
- 4,034
- Price
- $52.00
- Value
- $209,768
- Kerdman AlinaSVP, Controller & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 1 June 2026
- Shares
- 146
- Price
- $56.41
- Value
- $8,236
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2026 | Kerdman Alina SVP, Controller & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 139 | $56.88 | $7,906 |
| 14 September 2026 | Kerdman Alina SVP, Controller & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 134 | $62.40 | $8,362 |
| 2 September 2026 | Kim John Sunshin CLO, CAO & Corporate Secretary | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,500 | $63.37 | $158,431 |
| 31 August 2026 | Kerdman Alina SVP, Controller & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 144 | $63.34 | $9,121 |
| 3 August 2026 | Dalal Jatin P Chief Financial Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 12,000 | $55.76 | $669,168 |
| 3 August 2026 | Kim John Sunshin CLO, CAO & Corporate Secretary | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,500 | $57.05 | $142,625 |
| 1 July 2026 | Kerdman Alina SVP, Controller & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 137 | $39.82 | $5,455 |
| 15 June 2026 | Kerdman Alina SVP, Controller & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 133 | $51.70 | $6,876 |
| 10 June 2026 | ROHLEDER STEPHEN J Director | Bought | 4,034 | $52.00 | $209,768 |
| 1 June 2026 | Kerdman Alina SVP, Controller & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 146 | $56.41 | $8,236 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 12 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 29 Jul 2026 and 7 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.