Tidal Investments LLC Increases Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 48.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,137 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,625 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $3,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $33,041,000 after buying an additional 144,535 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 85,539 shares during the last quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,134 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,219,380 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $93,770,000 after purchasing an additional 31,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $214,141,000 after purchasing an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.7%

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $80.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $90.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $75.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Susquehanna upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.00.

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.