Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 13,169 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 39,530 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 7,407 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 2,579 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 79.1% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 437 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,769,110 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $354,822,000 after acquiring an additional 401,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 6,490 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CTSH traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $67.66. 3,038,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,327,235. The company has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $60.26 and a 52 week high of $80.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.55.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho initiated 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 objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.67.

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.