Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $7.47 Million Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 49.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,140 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 95,405 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $7,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CTSH. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.94.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ CTSH traded up $2.98 during trading on Thursday, hitting $76.55. 2,322,839 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,595,968. The company has a market cap of $37.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $76.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.57. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication 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.