Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Stock Position Decreased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 87.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,070 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 925,959 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $10,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,972,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after acquiring an additional 40,226 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $1,294,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 101,420 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $7,828,000 after acquiring an additional 11,349 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Legacy Partners LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 60,291 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,547 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.19.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $79.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $82.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.73 and its 200-day moving average is $76.73.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

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.