Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Reduces Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,288 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,561 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.3 %

CTSH opened at $81.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $40.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $82.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTSH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

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.