Captrust Financial Advisors Has $2.82 Million Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,682 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CTSH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $527,719,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,633,987 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $433,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990,515 shares during the period. AE Industrial Partners LP bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,088,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 98.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,742,442 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $210,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,960,206 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $458,340,000 after purchasing an additional 831,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $79.16 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology service provider to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.87.

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.