Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Boosts Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,815 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,876 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,663 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,502 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 98.9% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 933 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $79.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $82.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.73.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.