Perigon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 199 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,743 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vision Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,612 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 651 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 630 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTSH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.65.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $67.93 on Wednesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.58.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.