Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,902 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $374,413,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 211.3% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 6,172,703 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $375,901,000 after buying an additional 4,189,677 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 8,566,055 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $489,891,000 after buying an additional 3,428,877 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,917,510 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $604,274,000 after buying an additional 3,017,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 192.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,331,522 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $133,340,000 after buying an additional 1,533,824 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.94.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, Director Michael Patsalos-Fox sold 6,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $434,883.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 64,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,062,199.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $71.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.69 and its 200 day moving average is $64.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $51.33 and a 12 month high of $72.71. The stock has a market cap of $35.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The information technology service provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.04%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.