Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,400,548 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 23,449 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.28% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $102,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,111,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,860,483,000 after purchasing an additional 7,445,089 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $406,360,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,663,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,196,547,000 after buying an additional 4,365,493 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,861.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,686,597 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $127,389,000 after buying an additional 1,600,621 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,083.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,422,912 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $107,473,000 after buying an additional 1,357,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $68.30 on Thursday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $62.14 and a 1 year high of $80.09. The firm has a market cap of $33.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.24.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.85%.

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.