Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 93,002 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,681,530 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,002 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $129,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.5% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 786 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $77.17 on Wednesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $82.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $38.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.