New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $70.25 Million Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 913,475 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 142,093 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.18% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $70,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 44,423 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,518 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,972 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 163.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 248,135 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $19,151,000 after purchasing an additional 30,370 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $340,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CTSH. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of CTSH traded down $2.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.82. 6,336,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,445,917. The company has a market cap of $41.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.