Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 119,393 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,916,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPAM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in EPAM Systems by 643.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 417,526 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $83,100,000 after purchasing an additional 361,363 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 664,286 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $155,323,000 after buying an additional 217,960 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 45.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 515,351 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $102,570,000 after buying an additional 160,989 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 199.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 173,721 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $34,576,000 after buying an additional 115,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 399.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 116,350 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,205,000 after buying an additional 93,039 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Stock Up 1.2 %

EPAM Systems stock opened at $182.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.61. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.43 and a 12 month high of $302.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 4.56.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. EPAM Systems had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 14.60%. On average, analysts anticipate that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 1,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $277,046.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,009,174. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on EPAM Systems from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of EPAM Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded EPAM Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut EPAM Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on EPAM Systems from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EPAM Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.33.

About EPAM Systems

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.