Pitcairn Co. Reduces Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Pitcairn Co. decreased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,137 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 974 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,972,000. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 60,291 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,547 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 135.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,305 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 19,157 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 119,570 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $9,228,000 after purchasing an additional 6,626 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 907,902 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $70,072,000 after buying an additional 124,740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.41. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $82.41. The company has a market capitalization of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.