First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,638 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.5% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 786 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 11,169 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CTSH. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.9 %

CTSH opened at $79.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.24. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $82.41.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 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, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions 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.