KBC Group NV Sells 494,693 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

KBC Group NV cut its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,855,511 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 494,693 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.37% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $143,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CTSH. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% in 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 grew its position in 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Personal Financial Services boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 34,893 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.83.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of CTSH stock traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $81.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 844,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,808,230. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $82.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $76.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.70. The company has a market cap of $40.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is 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.