Marco Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Marco Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,070 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $3,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 99,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $7,514,000 after buying an additional 25,069 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,364,727 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $103,156,000 after buying an additional 57,141 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $416,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 15,031 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.3 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,818,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,583,097. The stock has a market cap of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $58.47 and a 1 year high of $80.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.52 and a 200 day moving average of $72.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTSH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.13.

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.