Northwest Bancshares Inc. Has $3.24 Million Position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,017 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 34,530 shares during the quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $3,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 47.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 454 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 127.7% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.5% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 786 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.8% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 11,169 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $76.32 on Wednesday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $76.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $82.41. The stock has a market cap of $37.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CTSH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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.