Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,796 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,744 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $26,451,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 59.2% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 95,351 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $6,484,000 after purchasing an additional 35,469 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,005,775 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $68,393,000 after buying an additional 47,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 955,275 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $60,610,000 after buying an additional 52,722 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.83. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $82.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.