Eukles Asset Management Sells 2,832 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Eukles Asset Management trimmed its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,918 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 2,832 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $907,000. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,408 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 6,808 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 63,309 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after buying an additional 2,698 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 222,052 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $17,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,720 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.22.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $86.20 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.62. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $87.61.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 26.61%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions 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 transaction of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.