636 Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Bought by Kestra Investment Management LLC

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 636 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $126,940,000 after purchasing an additional 978,579 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $191,280,000 after purchasing an additional 943,372 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter valued at $61,744,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $214,141,000 after purchasing an additional 705,946 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CTSH. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $84.82 on Friday. 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $81.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.57. The stock has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.