Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 102.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,350 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,077 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vision Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,612 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 651 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 630 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.7 %

CTSH opened at $67.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $80.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.58.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders 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. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.