Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Buys 1,029 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,713 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000,996 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,265,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $146,132,000 after buying an additional 1,281,236 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $122,603,000 after buying an additional 1,167,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,904,263 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $139,565,000 after buying an additional 1,073,666 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.9 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $79.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.05. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.98 and a 200 day moving average of $73.28. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $82.41.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. Bank of America raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of 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, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.47.

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.