Loudon Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 40.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,095 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CTSH. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 198,317 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $13,434,000 after buying an additional 15,441 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.4% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 64,251 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,352,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 434,244 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $29,416,000 after buying an additional 4,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 38,932 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,637,000 after buying an additional 3,088 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CTSH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Societe Generale reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.63.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.27. The company had a trading volume of 8,585,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,343,017. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The stock has a market cap of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.51.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company 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.