NEW DELHI: After Cognizant’s $3.4 billion buyback plan, TCS on Thursday said its board would consider buyback of equity shares at a meeting to be held on February 20, 2017.The stock surged 1.3 per cent in morning trade to hit a five-month high of Rs 2,447.The news came at a time when Indian IT companies are under pressure to address shareholders’ concerns.In a brief filing to BSE, TCS said: “Tata Consultancy Services has informed BSE that the board of directors will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares of the company at its meeting to be held on February 20, 2017.”Media reports have been buzzing for some time about a host of cash-rich IT companies considering buybacks to address shareholder concerns. TCS has Rs 43,100 crore cash on its book, which is nearly 9 per cent of its market capitalisation.Last week, Infosys board, however, termed the reports of shareholder pressure as ‘speculative’.But amid a row at Infosys between the company's co-founders, board and CEO Vishal Sikka, the IT giant's former CFO V Balakrishnan on Tuesday demanded share buyback to protect the interest of shareholders.“There have been several reports in the media that the board of Infosys is meeting over the next few days to consider Rs 12,000 crore share buyback. In this regard, the company would like to clarify that its policy is not to comment on rumours or speculations. Further, the company has always complied with its reportable obligations under LODR in a timely manner and will continue to do so," Infosys said in a BSE filing.The Congnizant board was first to approve a buyback plan to return $3.4 billion to shareholders over the next two years through a combination of share repurchases and dividends.“I think it will trigger a new trend. Infosys has also talked about it. Vishal Sikka also talked about it. This is a good move. This has been a common practice in the US. I would say it is one more step in that direction; that is one way to increase EPS," said Sandeep Tandon, MD & CEO, Quant Broking."TCS can do buyback of maximum of Rs 20,900 crore or 25 per cent of its networth. It had net cash of Rs 43,100 crore at the end of Q3FY17. We believe it would be reasonable for TCS to announce share buyback of $2 billion or Rs 13,600 crore, which would be 2.9 per cent of its market-cap. We currently have a 'hold' recommendation on TCS with a target price of Rs 2,202," said Urmil Shah, AVP for Institutional Equities at IDBI Capital Markets and Securities.