Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lowered its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 67,153 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 960 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $4,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% in 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 during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000,996 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,265,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,127 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,861.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,686,597 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $127,389,000 after buying an additional 1,600,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,083.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,422,912 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $107,473,000 after buying an additional 1,357,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Daiwa America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $76.04 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.33. 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 market cap of $37.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $62.14 and a twelve month high of $80.27.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

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.