Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,300 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 42.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 533 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,704 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CTSH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.19.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $77.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $82.46. The company has a market capitalization of $38.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,052.42. This represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.