State Street Corp Buys 867,176 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

State Street Corp boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 867,176 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 0.05% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $1,928,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,775,125 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $137,004,000 after acquiring an additional 8,193 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,598 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,828,000 after buying an additional 6,841 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $114,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 204,886 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $15,813,000 after buying an additional 6,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,073.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 105,037 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $8,107,000 after buying an additional 96,089 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 approximately $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CTSH opened at $81.14 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $82.41. The firm has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.47.

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.