Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Purchased by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $146,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,236 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $126,940,000 after buying an additional 978,579 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $191,280,000 after buying an additional 943,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after buying an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $75.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.19. The firm has a market cap of $37.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $82.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.