Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 953,775 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,522 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $73,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,045,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,254,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933,908 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000,996 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $1,265,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,127 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,281,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $82.32 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.63. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $82.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

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.