Royal Bank of Canada Has $60.68 Million Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 34.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 789,045 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 202,522 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.16% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $60,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CTSH. Unison Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted 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 worth $1,920,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $79.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,243,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,575,497. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $75.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93.

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. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology service provider to repurchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is 26.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CTSH. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays dropped 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 note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $85.00.

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.