Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Holdings Raised by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,179,834 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 148,893 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $244,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 515,881 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $527,719,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,406,513 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $261,996,000 after buying an additional 336,870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $75.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.49.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.