Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,167 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.5% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,273,996 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $92,808,000 after purchasing an additional 718,980 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,781,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $569,175,000 after acquiring an additional 101,078 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 186.4% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 125,168 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $9,173,000 after buying an additional 81,461 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 162.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 11,524 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 135.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,305 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 19,157 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CTSH. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock traded down $1.93 on Monday, hitting $72.07. 2,538,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,141,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day moving average is $71.82. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $62.14 and a 1-year high of $80.27. The company has a market capitalization of $35.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 28.85%.

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.