Creative Planning Has $2.78 Million Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Creative Planning boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,905 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,181 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 7,445,089 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $205,096,000 after buying an additional 3,000,996 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,265,473,000 after buying an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $146,132,000 after buying an additional 1,281,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,904,263 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $139,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Daiwa America raised Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

CTSH opened at $77.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.40. 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 stock has a market cap of $38.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $62.14 and a 1 year high of $80.27.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.