Pensionfund Sabic Purchases 6,000 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,500 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 42,651 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,057 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 665,305 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $51,348,000 after buying an additional 31,758 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted 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 acquiring an additional 40,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter worth about $155,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CTSH shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $76.55. 171,085 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,618,578. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.93 and its 200-day moving average is $75.99. The stock has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $82.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

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.