Infosys (NYSE:INFY) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 3,031,081 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the previous session’s volume of 7,006,041 shares.The stock last traded at $21.90 and had previously closed at $22.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

INFY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Investec downgraded shares of Infosys from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Infosys from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. HSBC upgraded shares of Infosys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Infosys from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Infosys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Infosys currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.85.

Infosys Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.00.

Infosys (NYSE:INFY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The technology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.19. Infosys had a return on equity of 31.43% and a net margin of 17.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Infosys Limited will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Infosys Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 1st were issued a dividend of $0.2126 per share. This is a positive change from Infosys’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.20. This represents a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. Infosys’s dividend payout ratio is 53.85%.

Institutional Trading of Infosys

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of INFY. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Infosys in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Infosys in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Infosys in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Infosys by 25.3% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,795 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Infosys by 34.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,936 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. 16.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Infosys Company Profile

Infosys Ltd. is a digital services and consulting company, which engages in the provision of end-to-end business solutions. It operates through the following segments: Financial Services, Retail, Communication, Energy, Utilities, Resources, and Services, Manufacturing, Hi-Tech, Life Sciences, and All Other.