Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 81,461 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 186.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,168 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,461 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $9,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 7,445,089 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $406,360,000. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,861.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,686,597 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $127,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,621 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,083.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,422,912 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $107,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,755 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,904,263 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $139,565,000 after buying an additional 1,073,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,043,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,397,573. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $62.14 and a twelve month high of $80.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.85. The company has a market capitalization of $36.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 28.85%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.