Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Buys 12,118 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 77.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,772 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after buying an additional 12,118 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $78.45. 3,384,515 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,790,101. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $63.79 and a 52-week high of $82.46. The company's 50-day moving average price is $78.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.64. The company has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.