LGT Group Foundation Has $1.43 Million Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

LGT Group Foundation cut its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 4,291 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after buying an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after acquiring an additional 173,667 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $250,428,000 after acquiring an additional 44,129 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,921,900 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $224,694,000 after acquiring an additional 443,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $214,141,000 after acquiring an additional 705,946 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sixteen research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $83.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.64 and its 200 day moving average is $79.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.