Banco Santander S.A. Has $421,000 Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 106.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,821 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after buying an additional 40,226 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,041,000 after purchasing an additional 144,535 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 85,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CTSH. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $84.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.34. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. 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. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

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.