Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 1,638 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,390 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,638 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $4,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 146.9% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 978,579 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $191,280,000 after purchasing an additional 943,372 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,928,405,000 after buying an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,744,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $214,141,000 after buying an additional 705,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $83.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.12. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

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.