Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Acquires 7,400 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,420 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $13,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $84.82 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.