Caxton Associates LP Invests $11.33 Million in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 150,000 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,330,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CTSH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $406,360,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,663,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,196,547,000 after acquiring an additional 4,365,493 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,861.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,686,597 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $127,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,621 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,083.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,422,912 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $107,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,000,658 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $151,104,000 after acquiring an additional 805,888 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CTSH. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.02. 705,772 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,111,911. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.74. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $61.23 and a 1-year high of $80.09. The firm has a market cap of $33.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.04.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 10.84%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.85%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.