Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Purchases Shares of 1,701 Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,701 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,539,290,000 after purchasing an additional 515,881 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after buying an additional 173,667 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,406,513 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $261,996,000 after buying an additional 336,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,348,102 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $257,469,000 after buying an additional 103,371 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CTSH. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $77.85 on Thursday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.72 and a 200-day moving average of $79.48.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.