Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 107,396 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,976 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $8,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 4,249 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 5,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 2,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 8,584 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $82.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.38. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $90.82.

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%. Research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm 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 boost 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 1.50%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.