Banco Santander S.A. Purchases New Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,659 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CTSH. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 840,359 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $64,859,000 after purchasing an additional 174,020 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth $206,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth $413,000. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 182,834 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $14,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,638 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CTSH. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $79.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 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.