Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys Shares of 7,320 Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,320 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Unison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,153 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

CTSH traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.06. The stock had a trading volume of 718,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,553,986. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.94. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The firm has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology service provider to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CTSH. Susquehanna raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Fourteen 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

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.