Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH Shares Bought by Ascent Group LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Group increased its Cognizant stake by 85.7% in the third quarter, adding 21,604 shares to bring its holdings to 46,812 shares, valued at about $2.69 million.
• Cognizant reported quarterly earnings of $1.49 per share, above the $1.46 analyst estimate, and revenue of $5.66 billion, up 4.6% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was Hold, with an average price target of $68.17; the company also declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.0% yield.

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,812 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,604 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,404,918 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $392,947,000 after acquiring an additional 222,819 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 6,177,881 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $379,013,000 after purchasing an additional 520,532 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 925.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,652,358 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $141,456,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,205 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 27.2% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,471,681 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $213,004,000 after purchasing an additional 742,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 289.6% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,905,584 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $166,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Susquehanna set a $82.00 target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.17.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $66.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.44 and a 200 day moving average of $58.89. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 52 week low of $37.08 and a 52 week high of $87.03. The company has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 17.72%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is currently 24.09%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is a global information technology services and consulting company that helps organizations modernize their technology infrastructure, operations and customer experiences. The company serves businesses across industries including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, retail and communications.

Cognizant's services include consulting, application development and modernization, cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, digital engineering, cybersecurity and business process services.

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