EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on EPAM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of EPAM Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on EPAM Systems from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of EPAM Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on EPAM Systems from $305.00 to $288.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.31.

EPAM Systems Price Performance

Shares of EPAM Systems stock opened at $144.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $213.08 and a 200 day moving average of $219.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. EPAM Systems has a 12 month low of $144.00 and a 12 month high of $275.49.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last posted its earnings results 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). EPAM Systems had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that EPAM Systems 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 $6,009,174. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EPAM Systems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of EPAM Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $173,053,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in EPAM Systems in the fourth quarter worth $166,906,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in EPAM Systems by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,181,143 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $510,053,000 after purchasing an additional 620,551 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 126.4% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 769,584 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $179,944,000 after purchasing an additional 429,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,304,243 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $538,778,000 after purchasing an additional 414,942 shares during the last quarter. 91.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EPAM Systems Company 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.