Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,044 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $8,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 74.7% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 477 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $90.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $90.82. The stock has a market cap of $44.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CTSH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho lifted 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, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.