Fmr LLC Sells 1,175,872 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Fmr LLC lowered its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,023,261 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,175,872 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $850,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after buying an additional 3,000,996 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 1,943,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $146,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,236 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,167,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,478,364 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $191,280,000 after purchasing an additional 943,372 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Daiwa America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.75 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.56. The company has a market cap of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $82.41. 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 posted 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. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

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.