Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 760 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,365 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CTSH. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth $27,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 630 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 854 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $73.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,559,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,304,866. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The stock has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.42.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

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.