Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 591 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,539,290,000 after buying an additional 515,881 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,437,687 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,032,239,000 after purchasing an additional 157,464 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $857,205,000 after purchasing an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,655,180 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $819,383,000 after purchasing an additional 287,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $527,719,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $80.15 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.89 and a 200 day moving average of $79.03. The company has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $88.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.00.

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.