LJI Wealth Management LLC Makes New $321,000 Investment in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

LJI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,165 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,045,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,254,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933,908 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,265,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,127 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,781,273 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $569,175,000 after purchasing an additional 101,078 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,565,974 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $378,483,000 after acquiring an additional 94,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $363,153,000 after acquiring an additional 142,225 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 4.5 %

CTSH stock traded down $3.66 on Friday, hitting $77.11. 5,411,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,826,356. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $82.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.