Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Purchases 200 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,838 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $83.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82. The firm has a market cap of $41.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.87.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.67.

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.