Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,469 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,145 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $3,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unison Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $2,276,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,153 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CTSH shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Securities upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.94.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH traded up $3.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $76.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,322,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,595,968. The stock has a market cap of $37.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.57. 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 (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology service provider to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.