Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $222,000 Investment in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,934 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 84.4% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 269,207 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $24,140,000 after buying an additional 123,220 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,774 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Barclays boosted 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 research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.65.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of CTSH opened at $67.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $80.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.58.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 positive change 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

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.