Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Position Decreased by Eukles Asset Management

Eukles Asset Management cut its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,918 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 2,832 shares during the quarter. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $264,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.3% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,576 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 60.5% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.5% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 23,190 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 38.1% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.22.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.0 %

CTSH stock opened at $86.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.62. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $87.61.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.61%.

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.