Bank of New Hampshire Cuts Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Bank of New Hampshire lessened its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,033 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,452 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,663,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,196,547,000 after acquiring an additional 4,365,493 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter worth $53,176,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $91,082,000 after purchasing an additional 704,932 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 432.9% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 608,068 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $41,191,000 after purchasing an additional 493,957 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 44.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,569,664 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $106,330,000 after purchasing an additional 483,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $66.84. 673,624 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,253,546. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $58.47 and a 12 month high of $80.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.51. The company has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTSH has been the subject of several research reports. Societe Generale reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.13.

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.