Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,547 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $77.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $82.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.38.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTSH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.19.

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.