Flputnam Investment Management Co. Boosts Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,089 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,635 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after buying an additional 20,874 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $83,145,000 after buying an additional 324,638 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,041,000 after buying an additional 26,035 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,082,000 after buying an additional 704,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 237.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 62,264 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,218,000 after buying an additional 43,806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $67.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $80.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.58. The company has a market capitalization of $33.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.65.

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.