Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,259,128 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 403,617 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $173,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $126,940,000 after buying an additional 978,579 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $191,280,000 after buying an additional 943,372 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after buying an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $61,744,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.05 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $82.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.90.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for 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%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.