Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 12,289 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $928,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $66.76. The stock had a trading volume of 3,459,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,298,709. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.55.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company 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 posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

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.