Loudon Investment Management LLC Buys 1,760 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Loudon Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 40.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,095 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,119 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,874 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 36.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,227,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $83,145,000 after purchasing an additional 324,638 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 53.8% during the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 74,411 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after purchasing an additional 26,035 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 110.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,344,587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,082,000 after purchasing an additional 704,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CTSH. Societe Generale reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.63.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH traded up $0.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $66.27. 8,585,253 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,343,017. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $58.81 and a 52-week high of $80.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.51. The company has a market cap of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.08.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.59 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 paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

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.