E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Purchases 30,746 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 325,903 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,746 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB owned 0.07% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $24,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $33,041,000 after purchasing an additional 144,535 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 85,539 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $1,038,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 142,731 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $10,976,000 after purchasing an additional 11,921 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of CTSH stock traded up $0.96 on Friday, hitting $80.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,510,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,572,229. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.03. The company has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology service provider to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.