Earnings Per Share on Target to Meet Expectations

    WESTPORT, Conn., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant Corporation (NYSE: CZT)
announced today that its ownership of Gartner Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: GART) will
be accounted for as an equity investment rather than as a majority-owned
subsidiary, beginning with the third quarter of 1997.  Generally accepted
accounting principles require the application of equity accounting to
recognize Cognizant's share of Gartner's financial results.  This accounting
change does not impact Cognizant's net income, earnings per share or
shareholders' equity.
    "Cognizant decided earlier this year to enhance shareholder value by
investing in our core businesses rather than maintaining our majority
ownership of Gartner," said Robert E. Weissman, Cognizant Chairman and CEO.
"Equity accounting changes the appearance, but not the substance, of
Cognizant's financial statements.  We are on target to achieve 17- to
20-percent earnings per share growth for both the third quarter and the full
year of 1997."
    An information packet containing historical Cognizant financial statements
with Gartner Group treated as an equity investment, along with a discussion of
the reporting changes, will be mailed to investors and is available upon
request.  Cognizant's third quarter earnings will be announced on November 12,
1997.
    Based in Westport, Conn., Cognizant Corporation integrates information
with technology to create business insight.  Principal operating units are:
IMS, which offers global information solutions to the pharmaceutical and
healthcare industries, and Nielsen Media Research, the leader in audience
measurement for electronic media.  Cognizant also is the largest shareholder
of Gartner Group, the premier provider of research and advisory services to
the information technology industry.  Cognizant's Emerging Markets Group
focuses on new and developing technologies in the information services
industry.
    This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-
looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Although Cognizant believes the
expectations contained in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it
can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.  This
information may involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.  Factors which could
cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to,
factors detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

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