IFG Advisory LLC Has $5.07 Million Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,874 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CTSH opened at $73.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.42. 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Societe Generale reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.38.

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.