PGGM Investments Decreases Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

PGGM Investments decreased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 128,303 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 2,416 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $9,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after buying an additional 40,226 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,041,000 after acquiring an additional 144,535 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,568,000 after acquiring an additional 85,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.39.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $79.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $82.28 and its 200 day moving average is $79.38. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $90.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.