Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $206,000 in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 2,675 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 10.7% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 34,549 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,341 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,904,263 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $139,565,000 after buying an additional 1,073,666 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 64,111 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,694,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $680,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,684 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of CTSH opened at $79.54 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $82.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.28.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CTSH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.47.

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.