Toth Financial Advisory Corp Grows Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,956 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $126,940,000 after buying an additional 978,579 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $191,280,000 after buying an additional 943,372 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth about $61,744,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.19.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.76 and a 200 day moving average of $76.83. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $82.46.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend 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.