Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 4,795 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 131,375 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 4,795 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $8,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,111,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,860,483,000 after acquiring an additional 7,445,089 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 532,677 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $39,242,000 after purchasing an additional 38,526 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,523 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $1,786,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTSH. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,719,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,061,879. The company has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $62.14 and a 1-year high of $80.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.52.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.