M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,692 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $7,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 434,244 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $29,416,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 38,932 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,637,000 after buying an additional 3,088 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 6.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,322 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 20.5% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 126,181 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $8,547,000 after acquiring an additional 21,464 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. Jefferies Financial Group raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $66.25 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.26 and a fifty-two week high of $80.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.31 and a 200 day moving average of $72.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.72 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 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 28.85%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.