Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,909 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,699 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 41,571 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,123 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 48,806 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,686,000 after buying an additional 1,873 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CTSH. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $87.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Societe Generale reissued a “sell” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. 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, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $67.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $80.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.55.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

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.