Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $5.30 Million Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 197.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,890 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,700 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $5,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 447 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.22.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $87.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.31 and a 200-day moving average of $77.45. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $87.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.