Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Holdings Boosted by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,104 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after acquiring an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $250,428,000 after buying an additional 44,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,748,982 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $211,369,000 after buying an additional 628,970 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased 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. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.19.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

CTSH opened at $78.45 on Wednesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $82.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.79 and a 200-day moving average of $76.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

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.