Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Holdings Raised by IFG Advisory LLC

IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,874 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $83,145,000 after buying an additional 324,638 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 26,035 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,368,034 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $295,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788,329 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,082,000 after acquiring an additional 704,932 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 237.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 62,264 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after purchasing an additional 43,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTSH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.38.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CTSH opened at $73.62 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.42. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $80.09. The stock has a market cap of $36.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.