Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 3,027 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,669 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,874 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $83,145,000 after buying an additional 324,638 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 26,035 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,082,000 after acquiring an additional 704,932 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.0 %

CTSH stock opened at $66.25 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $60.26 and a 52-week high of $80.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $32.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.55.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 10.84%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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.