New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $74.32 Million Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 984,026 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 51,435 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $74,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,874 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $83,145,000 after acquiring an additional 324,638 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% during the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 26,035 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,082,000 after acquiring an additional 704,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.6 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $67.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.