Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 194,691 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,547,801 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 194,691 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.31% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $118,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 515,881 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $1,032,239,000 after buying an additional 157,464 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% during 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. increased 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 valued at $819,383,000 after buying an additional 287,973 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $527,719,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CTSH shares. 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.94.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of CTSH stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Thursday, hitting $75.56. 3,830,978 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,538,902. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.96. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $79.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.71. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.52 and a twelve month high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology service provider to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.