Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 16,152 Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has acquired 16,152 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions, valued at approximately $1.236 million, signaling growing interest from institutional investors in the company.
• Cognizant reported a quarterly EPS of $1.31, beating estimates, with revenues increasing by 8.1% year-over-year, highlighting its strong financial performance.
• The company declared a $0.31 quarterly dividend, with a current yield of 1.8%, reflecting its stable profitability and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,152 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,236,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,077,445 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $923,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,265 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,175 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 71,494 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $5,469,000 after acquiring an additional 4,286 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 46,087 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626 shares during the period. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 1st quarter worth $1,929,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CTSH traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,928,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,859,401. The firm has a market cap of $34.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.90. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 12-month low of $65.52 and a 12-month high of $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $76.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.17 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.77% and a net margin of 11.89%. The company's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is 25.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CTSH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Susquehanna raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.56.

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.