Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Trims Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,120 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 585 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,972,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after purchasing an additional 40,226 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,294,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 101,420 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $7,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11,349 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 60,291 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,547 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $77.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.79 and a fifty-two week high of $82.46.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

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.