Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 175 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,620 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,704 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.5 %

CTSH stock opened at $77.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $82.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.86 and a 200 day moving average of $76.64.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CTSH. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions 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.