Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 515,881 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 515,881 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $4,539,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,678,000 after purchasing an additional 40,226 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,041,000 after acquiring an additional 144,535 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,568,000 after acquiring an additional 85,539 shares during the period. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 2.0 %

CTSH opened at $77.94 on Tuesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week 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 $82.68 and its 200 day moving average is $79.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.