American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 39.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,942,396 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 544,580 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.39% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $132,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.2 %

CTSH stock opened at $77.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.53. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.14 and a fifty-two week high of $80.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. The company 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%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.85%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.