Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 5,802 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,453 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 5,802 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $527,719,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,633,987 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $433,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990,515 shares during the period. AE Industrial Partners LP acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,088,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 98.9% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,363,570 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,303,355 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $254,028,000 after buying an additional 1,068,420 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $80.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,930,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,555,726. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.07. The company has a market cap of $39.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82.

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

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.00.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.