Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.6%, owning approximately 1.52 million shares valued at about $115.8 million.
• Cognizant's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.31 EPS against a forecast of $1.26, with revenue also surpassing estimates at $5.25 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%, with a payout ratio of 25.20%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,515,380 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,572 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.31% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $115,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 117.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,805,893 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $520,651,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677,145 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,585.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,776,601 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $135,910,000 after buying an additional 1,710,433 shares in the last quarter. AE Industrial Partners LP purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,088,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,077,445 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $923,925,000 after buying an additional 1,422,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 98.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,742,442 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $210,894,000 after buying an additional 1,363,570 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Susquehanna raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and increased their target price for the company from $77.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ CTSH traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.00. 3,538,845 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,871,263. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.52 and a 1-year high of $90.82. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 16.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.20%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.