Vident Advisory LLC Increases Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 450.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,864 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 50,635 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $4,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 24,965 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. TD Securities raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $88.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and lifted their price objective 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 given 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 price target of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CTSH stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.12. 2,243,101 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,568,635. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $75.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.00. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $63.79 and a 52-week high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

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