WFA of San Diego LLC Invests $78,000 in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,200 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 97,310.2% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 11,012,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $718,878,000 after buying an additional 11,000,918 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $374,413,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 84.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,963 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $801,166,000 after buying an additional 6,027,057 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 211.3% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,172,703 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $375,901,000 after purchasing an additional 4,189,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,917,510 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $604,274,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,452 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

CTSH stock opened at $69.80 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.25 and a fifty-two week high of $72.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.08.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.91 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 17.54%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 20th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.94.

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.