Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 4,671 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,613 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,671 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter worth about $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. Bank of America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.6 %

CTSH stock opened at $75.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $37.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $62.14 and a 52 week high of $80.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.85%.

Insider Activity

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

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.