DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Trims Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,273,996 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,790 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.26% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $94,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.9% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 114,086 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 64,465 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 51.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,217 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 4,148 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 31.8% during the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 3,923 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 947 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.6% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 18,688 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 500,039 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $38,253,000 after acquiring an additional 7,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.3%

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.52 and a 12 month high of $90.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.85.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm 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 16.73% and a net margin of 11.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology service provider to purchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

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.