Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,180 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,348 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after purchasing an additional 40,226 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,041,000 after purchasing an additional 144,535 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 85,539 shares during the period. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.71.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.1 %

CTSH stock opened at $79.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $90.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions 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.