Eastern Bank Takes Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter worth about $1,687,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter worth about $233,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 15.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 147,345 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $10,799,000 after purchasing an additional 19,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 650,385 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $47,667,000 after purchasing an additional 53,061 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $74.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.82. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $62.14 and a 52-week high of $80.27.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. 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 1.60%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CTSH. Daiwa America raised Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.