Ieq Capital LLC Lowers Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Ieq Capital LLC decreased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 81.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,545 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 23,828 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,041,000 after buying an additional 144,535 shares in the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 136.8% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,504 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 4,335 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $84.15 on Thursday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.