AQR Capital Management LLC Has $56.35 Million Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 732,747 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 151,790 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.15% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $56,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 29,595 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 24,965 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,153 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTSH has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.87.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 3.3 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $77.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,330,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,581,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $75.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.58. The company has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions 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.