Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 72,870 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,365 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,219,380 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $93,770,000 after buying an additional 31,530 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 49,621 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,816,000 after acquiring an additional 21,383 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,941 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,443 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,625 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 4.2 %

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $87.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.45. The company has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $87.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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 return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. Analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.22.

Cognizant Technology Solutions 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.