Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,000,421 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after acquiring an additional 392,429 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.21% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $461,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $4,539,290,000 after acquiring an additional 515,881 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $857,205,000 after buying an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,655,180 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $819,383,000 after buying an additional 287,973 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $527,719,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CTSH shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho raised Cognizant Technology Solutions to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ CTSH traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.17. The company had a trading volume of 721,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,591,351. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.65. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.