Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lowered its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,324 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 8,672 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $3,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000,996 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,265,473,000 after buying an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,167,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,723 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $126,940,000 after acquiring an additional 978,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $80.73 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average is $77.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.02. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a one year low of $63.79 and a one year high of $82.41. The company has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.