B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,749 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 234 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CTSH. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $79.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.99. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $63.79 and a 1-year high of $82.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Daiwa America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com lowered Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.35.

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.