Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Raises Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 334,294 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 10,608 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned about 0.07% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $25,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 142.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,338 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 5,492 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 116.6% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 6,868 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 3,697 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,763 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,352 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Susquehanna upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and upped their target price for the company from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI started coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.18.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 958,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,509,972. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.52 and a 12 month high of $90.82. The stock has a market cap of $38.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.72.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Cognizant Technology Solutions's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.