Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Sold by Seizert Capital Partners LLC

Seizert Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,739 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 57,713 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $4,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after acquiring an additional 867,176 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,348,102 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $257,469,000 after buying an additional 103,371 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,921,900 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $224,694,000 after buying an additional 443,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $214,141,000 after buying an additional 705,946 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $83.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

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.