IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,269 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $7,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,045,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,254,178,000 after buying an additional 6,933,908 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,265,473,000 after buying an additional 1,943,127 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,781,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $569,175,000 after buying an additional 101,078 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,565,974 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $378,483,000 after buying an additional 94,209 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CTSH. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.58.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $74.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.79. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $62.14 and a 1-year high of $80.27. The company has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total value of $495,584.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,812.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.