Quest Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 113,220.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,332 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,322 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CTSH. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $205,096,000 after buying an additional 3,000,996 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,265,473,000 after buying an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $146,132,000 after buying an additional 1,281,236 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,904,263 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $139,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,666 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CTSH. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $77.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.11. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $82.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.