Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires 4,635 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,089 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,635 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $438,000. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 67,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 362,929 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $27,412,000 after acquiring an additional 13,495 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $5,295,000. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 6,185 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CTSH. Guggenheim began coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two equities research 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.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.65.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $67.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.07 and its 200-day moving average is $72.58. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $58.09 and a one year high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

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.