Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 161 Shares of EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,949 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in EPAM Systems were worth $1,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EPAM. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in EPAM Systems by 60.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 10,754 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $2,970,000 after acquiring an additional 4,061 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in EPAM Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $734,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in EPAM Systems by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,865,123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $1,895,872,000 after purchasing an additional 39,531 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in EPAM Systems during the second quarter worth about $631,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 62.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 46,381 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $12,809,000 after buying an additional 17,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Stock Performance

EPAM opened at $197.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.84 and a current ratio of 4.84. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.43 and a 52-week high of $317.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $199.30 and its 200-day moving average is $202.86.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The information technology services provider reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. EPAM Systems had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EPAM Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, August 8th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EPAM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on EPAM Systems from $237.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of EPAM Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EPAM Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $204.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of EPAM Systems from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $222.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.32.

EPAM Systems Profile

EPAM Systems, Inc provides digital platform engineering and software development services worldwide. The company offers engineering services, including requirements analysis and platform selection, customization, cross-platform migration, implementation, and integration; infrastructure management services, such as software development, testing, performance tuning, deployment, maintenance, and support services.