EP Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $684,000 in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,869 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.5% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 786 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.8% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 11,169 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CTSH. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.1 %

CTSH traded down $0.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $80.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,842,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,752,026. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $82.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.11 and a 200-day moving average of $74.39. The company has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. 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 payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.