Versor Investments LP Raises Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 124.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,699 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $250,428,000 after buying an additional 44,129 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,921,900 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $224,694,000 after acquiring an additional 443,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

CTSH stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $83.63. 386,606 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,467,196. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82. The company has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $81.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.01. 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 (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CTSH shares. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.67.

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.