Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Purchased by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,097,594 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 15,601 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.22% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $83,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CTSH. Unison Advisors LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 29,595 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 24,965 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,153 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Susquehanna raised 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $79.32. 3,192,420 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,862,931. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $90.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.98. The company has a market capitalization of $39.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

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.