Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $203,000 Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,687 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 95,821 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $6,491,000 after buying an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 15,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $4,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions 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 transaction of $69,354.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

CTSH opened at $66.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.47 and a fifty-two week high of $80.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.31 and a 200-day moving average of $72.56.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.13.

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.