Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes $1.26 Million Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired 16,425 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions, valued at approximately $1,257,000, according to its recent SEC filing.
• Cognizant reported $1.31 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.26, with revenues of $5.25 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $1.24 and a yield of 1.69%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,425 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,257,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 290.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 899 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $1.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,356,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,446,974. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a one year low of $65.52 and a one year high of $90.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Wall Street Zen lowered Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird increased 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, May 1st. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.88.

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.