Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,810 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,539,290,000 after acquiring an additional 515,881 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,719,000. Finally, 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. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $75.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $90.82.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 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.