Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Purchased by Simplicity Solutions LLC

Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,185 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 20,874 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted 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 purchasing an additional 324,638 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% during the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,041,000 after purchasing an additional 26,035 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,082,000 after purchasing an additional 704,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 237.3% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 62,264 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,218,000 after purchasing an additional 43,806 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions 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 directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $67.13 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.65.

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.