DNB Asset Management AS Grows Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 85,381 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,586 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,513 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,989 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter worth $215,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 129.5% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,273,996 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $92,808,000 after acquiring an additional 718,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,781,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $569,175,000 after acquiring an additional 101,078 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $73.30 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.76. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $62.14 and a one year high of $80.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CTSH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.06.

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.