WASHINGTON TRUST Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,852 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 4,470 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter valued at $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CTSH traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $74.77. The stock had a trading volume of 654,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,802,134. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.91. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $62.14 and a 12-month high of $80.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a market cap of $37.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at $3,419,812.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.58.

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.