Amalgamated Bank Lowers Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,444 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 2,514 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $7,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CTSH. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Mizuho increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.67.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $84.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $41.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $90.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.84.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.