Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 44,870 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 672,886 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 44,870 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $51,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,312,000. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $233,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 83,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $6,404,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares during the last quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,986 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,459,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 284,553 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $21,839,000 after buying an additional 142,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $68.74 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. The stock has a market cap of $34.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.38. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology service provider to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

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.