Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 119,865 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 833,910 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 119,865 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.17% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $64,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 978,579 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 943,372 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 867,176 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at $61,744,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTSH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $83.23 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $90.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.98 and a 200-day moving average of $79.24. The firm has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.