Olympiad Research LP Purchases Shares of 2,756 Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,756 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,038,000. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 61,132 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,701,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,921,900 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $224,694,000 after buying an additional 443,536 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,688 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 142,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $10,976,000 after purchasing an additional 11,921 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTSH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $84.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $90.82.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.