Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 35,129 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,182 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,129 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.11% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $40,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 665,305 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $51,348,000 after purchasing an additional 31,758 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,505 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $8,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,535 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 539.2% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,208 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. TD Securities upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.87.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $79.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

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

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.