LGT Group Foundation Trims Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

LGT Group Foundation reduced its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 4,291 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $126,940,000 after purchasing an additional 978,579 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $191,280,000 after purchasing an additional 943,372 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,744,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $214,141,000 after acquiring an additional 705,946 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $83.51 on Tuesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.64 and its 200 day moving average is $79.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.