Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Position Increased by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 151,277 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $11,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,928,405,000 after buying an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $250,428,000 after buying an additional 44,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,748,982 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $211,369,000 after purchasing an additional 628,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $80.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.83. The stock has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $82.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CTSH. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.19.

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.