Aries Wealth Management Has $298,000 Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Aries Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,939 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Aries Wealth Management’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $83,145,000 after buying an additional 324,638 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after buying an additional 26,035 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,368,034 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $295,978,000 after buying an additional 1,788,329 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,082,000 after buying an additional 704,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 237.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 62,264 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after buying an additional 43,806 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,543,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,173,093. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.35. The company has a market cap of $37.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.07. 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 1-year low of $57.24 and a 1-year high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CTSH. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Societe Generale reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.43.

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.