EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on EPAM. Itau BBA Securities raised EPAM Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of EPAM Systems from $222.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of EPAM Systems from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on EPAM Systems in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on EPAM Systems from $237.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.32.

EPAM Systems Price Performance

Shares of EPAM opened at $198.35 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $201.03 and a 200-day moving average of $210.34. The company has a quick ratio of 4.84, a current ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.45. EPAM Systems has a twelve month low of $169.43 and a twelve month high of $317.50.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.19. EPAM Systems had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EPAM Systems will post 8.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EPAM Systems announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 8th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information technology services provider to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EPAM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,865,123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,872,000 after buying an additional 39,531 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 14,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 657,070 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $123,601,000 after acquiring an additional 652,515 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 595,486 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $112,017,000 after purchasing an additional 264,570 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 22.6% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 512,353 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $139,516,000 after purchasing an additional 94,544 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 372.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 476,311 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $141,627,000 after purchasing an additional 375,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

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.