Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Purchases 435 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,995 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,874 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $83,145,000 after buying an additional 324,638 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% during the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 26,035 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,082,000 after acquiring an additional 704,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 237.3% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 62,264 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after acquiring an additional 43,806 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.65.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $67.71 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

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.