Point72 Europe London LLP Purchases 29,730 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Point72 Europe London LLP boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 338.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,523 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,730 shares during the quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,539,290,000 after purchasing an additional 515,881 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.2% in the 4th 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 period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $857,205,000 after acquiring an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $527,719,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CTSH. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $80.36 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $63.79 and a 52-week high of $90.82. The company has a market capitalization of $39.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology service provider to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 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.