Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,540,011 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 421,472 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 2.13% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $810,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.35. 5,554,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,549,361. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $81.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.95. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is currently 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.