Axa S.A. Grows Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,113,396 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 13,888 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned about 0.22% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $85,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $4,539,290,000 after acquiring an additional 515,881 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,437,687 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $1,032,239,000 after purchasing an additional 157,464 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $857,205,000 after buying an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,655,180 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $819,383,000 after buying an additional 287,973 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $527,719,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $92.00 to $81.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho raised Cognizant Technology Solutions to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $79.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,161,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,572,537. The company has a market cap of $39.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The business's 50 day moving average is $75.40 and its 200-day moving average is $78.57.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

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

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.