14,936 Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 14,936 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,149,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $75.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $90.82. The firm has a market cap of $37.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase 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 1.63%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology service provider to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.