World Investment Advisors LLC Buys 1,010 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,634 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction 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 $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. TD Cowen upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.35.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $81.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.85. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $82.46.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.