2,687 Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Purchased by Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,687 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CTSH. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,874 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 324,638 shares during the period. PGGM Investments raised its stake in 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 valued at $5,041,000 after buying an additional 26,035 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% in 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 buying an additional 704,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. Societe Generale reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $66.46 on Tuesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $58.47 and a 1-year high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.56. The firm has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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.