DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Acquires 1,430 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,132 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,430 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 29,595 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 24,965 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.1%

CTSH opened at $79.16 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.65. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The company has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology service provider to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CTSH. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Susquehanna upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $92.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.87.

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.