Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.29 Million Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,711 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 446 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 103,371 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,441 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 183,371 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $14,101,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 32,144 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,472,000 after acquiring an additional 14,139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $83.74 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.12. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The company has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change 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 1.48%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTSH. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their target price 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, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

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.