Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Buys Shares of 1,701 Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,701 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,678,000 after purchasing an additional 40,226 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,041,000 after acquiring an additional 144,535 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 85,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 17,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $77.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.48. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $63.79 and a 52-week high of $90.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Equities research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.