Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 198,740 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $13,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,045,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,254,178,000 after buying an additional 6,933,908 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during 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 during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,781,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $569,175,000 after buying an additional 101,078 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $406,360,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,011,825 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $227,483,000 after buying an additional 120,109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.0 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $76.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $62.14 and a 52 week high of $80.27. The company has a market capitalization of $37.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.54.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.