SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, a growth of 25.6% from the August 31st total of 1,250,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

SS&C Technologies Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SSNC opened at $73.92 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. SS&C Technologies has a 1-year low of $46.61 and a 1-year high of $76.94.

SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. SS&C Technologies had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 12.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that SS&C Technologies will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

SS&C Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

SS&C Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from SS&C Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. SS&C Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael Jay Zamkow sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $1,443,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,098.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Michael Jay Zamkow sold 19,000 shares of SS&C Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $1,443,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,098.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Smita Conjeevaram sold 48,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $3,434,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,172.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 609,690 shares of company stock valued at $44,821,055. 15.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SS&C Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $170,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 58,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 53,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,299,000 after acquiring an additional 5,657 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 175,435 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in SS&C Technologies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 102,175 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,244,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SSNC. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on SS&C Technologies from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of SS&C Technologies from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of SS&C Technologies from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SS&C Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.75.

About SS&C Technologies

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides software products and software-enabled services to financial services and healthcare industries. The company owns and operates technology stack across securities accounting; front-office functions, such as trading and modeling; middle-office functions comprising portfolio management and reporting; back-office functions, such as accounting, performance measurement, reconciliation, reporting, processing and clearing, and compliance and tax reporting; and healthcare solutions consisting of claims adjudication, benefit management, care management, and business intelligence solutions.