Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 12,537 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 170,122 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,537 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $13,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 94,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in 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 valued at $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $80.77 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $82.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.70. The company has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.