Townsquare Capital LLC Raises Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 19.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,701 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,324 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $205,096,000 after buying an additional 3,000,996 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,265,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $146,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,236 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $122,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $191,280,000 after purchasing an additional 943,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.49 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $39.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $82.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.78.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTSH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.