Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Lowers Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise cut its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,322 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 2,895 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $3,860,483,000 after acquiring an additional 7,445,089 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,663,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,196,547,000 after purchasing an additional 4,365,493 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,177,547 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $418,467,000 after purchasing an additional 294,415 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,433,474 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $410,406,000 after purchasing an additional 238,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $406,360,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $68.34 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.23 and a fifty-two week high of $80.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.42. 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 has a market cap of $33.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.67.

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.