Denali Advisors LLC Sells 1,111 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Denali Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,808 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,111 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CTSH. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $84.15 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.84. The stock has a market cap of $41.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. 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.