Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,000 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $728,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $313,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,909 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 41,571 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,140,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,123 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on CTSH shares. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $66.50. 358,959 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,258,595. The company has a market cap of $33.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.55. 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 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

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.