Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $824,000 Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,712 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after selling 3,963 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $2.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.82. The stock had a trading volume of 6,336,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,337,665. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.48. The company has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its 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 expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.