Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Has $408,000 Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,304 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $126,940,000 after buying an additional 978,579 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $191,280,000 after purchasing an additional 943,372 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $61,744,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $214,141,000 after purchasing an additional 705,946 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.2 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $83.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. 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 cap of $41.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors 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 represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.