Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CTSH. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 31,833 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 6,090 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 26,613 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 4,671 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,391 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 3,132 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 87.7% in the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 11,718 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 5,475 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 155.1% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 30,892 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 18,781 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,812.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH opened at $75.64 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $62.14 and a twelve month high of $80.27. The firm has a market cap of $37.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.35.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.