Grove Bank & Trust Increases Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 98.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 933 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,022,728,000 after buying an additional 173,667 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $250,428,000 after buying an additional 44,129 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,748,982 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $211,369,000 after buying an additional 628,970 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.19.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $77.81 on Tuesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $82.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.57.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.