Empowered Funds LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 54.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 76,935 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 93,187 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter worth about $1,972,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after acquiring an additional 40,226 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,294,000. Matthews International Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 101,420 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $7,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11,349 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $87.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $43.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.75. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $88.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 26.61%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.