Grandfield & Dodd LLC Increases Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,371 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $14,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 32,144 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after buying an additional 14,139 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,021 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Finally, Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CTSH. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value 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. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $83.35 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.55 and a 200 day moving average of $79.01. The company has a market capitalization of $41.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 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%. Research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.