Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,408 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,808 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $86.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $87.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.62. The company has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 26.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CTSH shares. Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.22.

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.