Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 37,930 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 7,116.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,463 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,930 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 135.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,305 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 19,157 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 162.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 11,524 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 7,125 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,312 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $3,200,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CTSH stock traded up $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $80.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,822,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,786,536. The firm has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $82.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.98.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CTSH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.