JT Stratford LLC Raises Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

JT Stratford LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,332 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,032,239,000 after buying an additional 157,464 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $857,205,000 after acquiring an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,655,180 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $819,383,000 after acquiring an additional 287,973 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,719,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Susquehanna raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $77.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $79.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.94. The stock has a market cap of $39.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $63.79 and a 52-week high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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 approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology service provider to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

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.