Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 7,445 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Grimes & Company Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 150,851 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 7,445 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $11,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total value of $495,584.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,419,812.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $76.00. 84,678 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,784,009. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.46. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $62.14 and a 1-year high of $80.27. The company has a market cap of $37.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.77.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 11.39%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.58.

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.