Gries Financial LLC Takes $1.99 Million Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Gries Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 29,282 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,991,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% during the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 29,226 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,142,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% in the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 48,552 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,558,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 46,878 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,541,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% during the first quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 12,917 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 437 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTSH has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,121,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,014,339. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $62.14 and a one year high of $80.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.