Sunbelt Securities Inc. Cuts Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lessened its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 78.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,028 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 7,505 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 515,881 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 157,464 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $857,205,000 after buying an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,655,180 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $819,383,000 after buying an additional 287,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,719,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of 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. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH stock traded up $0.34 on Friday, hitting $80.99. 8,655,708 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,597,009. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.99. The firm has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.11%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.