MML Investors Services LLC Sells 4,741 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

MML Investors Services LLC lowered its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,201 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 4,741 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 68.3% during the third quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 112,837 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $6,482,000 after buying an additional 45,782 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 25.4% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 265,029 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $15,223,000 after buying an additional 53,626 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. FORA Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 75.1% during the third quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 35,907 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after buying an additional 15,402 shares during the period. Finally, Kerrisdale Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.2% during the third quarter. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC now owns 280,803 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $16,129,000 after buying an additional 54,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CTSH shares. TheStreet raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research cut Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Moffett Nathanson cut Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.75.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $62.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $51.33 and a 1 year high of $93.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.38.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The information technology service provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.24%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Profile

(Get Rating)

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. engages in the provision of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It operates through the following business segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media, and Technology. The Financial Services segment consists of banking and insurance services.