Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 70,100 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,295,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 630 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CTSH shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Societe Generale restated a "sell" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.65.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,806,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,374,599. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.