Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $830,000 Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 72,427 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 35,183 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,012,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,376,702 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $190,919,000 after purchasing an additional 55,695 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $469,000. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 360,483 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $20,616,000 after buying an additional 56,714 shares during the period. 90.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $63.01 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $51.33 and a twelve month high of $75.40. The stock has a market cap of $31.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The information technology service provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 11.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 25.84%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, Director Zein Abdalla sold 6,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.55, for a total value of $433,221.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $847,927.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CTSH shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued 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 $68.21.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Profile

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Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. engages in the provision of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It operates through the following business segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media, and Technology. The Financial Services segment consists of banking and insurance services.