Atria Investments Inc Reduces Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Atria Investments Inc decreased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 21.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,019 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 6,819 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,045,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,254,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933,908 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings 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 position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 1,943,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted 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 valued at $146,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,236 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 1.9 %

CTSH opened at $80.77 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $82.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.74 and a 200 day moving average of $72.70. The firm has a market cap of $40.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.