Machina Capital S.A.S. Purchases New Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought 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 SEC. The firm bought 13,169 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,874 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $83,145,000 after buying an additional 324,638 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $5,041,000 after buying an additional 26,035 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $91,082,000 after acquiring an additional 704,932 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.66. 3,052,430 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,340,753. The company has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $60.26 and a one year high of $80.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.57.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.85%.

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.