SRN Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

SRN Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 10,633 shares of the information technology service provider's stock, valued at approximately $818,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,972,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $91,678,000 after buying an additional 40,226 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $33,041,000 after buying an additional 144,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $33,568,000 after buying an additional 85,539 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.35. 5,554,261 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,549,361. The company has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average is $81.55 and its 200 day moving average is $78.98. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $90.82.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.