Liberty Capital Management Inc. Sells 300 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,270 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 41,865 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 33,088 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,425,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 18,246 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 238,910 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $17,510,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.6% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 33,116 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,427,000 after buying an additional 3,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CTSH. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of CTSH stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.34. 6,627,464 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,011,098. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $61.23 and a 52 week high of $80.09. The company has a market capitalization of $33.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.04.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.