Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Has $731,000 Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,980 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,561 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hendershot Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.7% in the first quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 219,582 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $16,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% in the first quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 8,100 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 4,499 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,553 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,804 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CTSH shares. 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 report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Societe Generale reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.13.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH traded up $0.18 on Friday, hitting $66.94. 2,818,907 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,583,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $58.47 and a 12 month high of $80.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.56.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

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.