Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 628,970 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 29.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,748,982 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 628,970 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $211,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CTSH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 64,111 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,694,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $680,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,684 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 817,227 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $59,895,000 after acquiring an additional 4,165 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $80.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.41. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $82.41. The firm has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.05. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

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.