Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,022 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,146 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $8,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter worth $28,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $76.76 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.37. The stock has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $62.14 and a 12 month high of $80.27. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,812.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.