3,016 Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Bought by Portfolio Design Labs LLC

Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,016 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after buying an additional 173,667 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $250,428,000 after buying an additional 44,129 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $214,141,000 after buying an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,748,982 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $211,369,000 after acquiring an additional 628,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded up $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $90.70. The company had a trading volume of 4,369,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,990,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $44.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day moving average is $80.35 and its 200 day moving average is $78.12. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is currently 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.