EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $168.70 and last traded at $169.11, with a volume of 147795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EPAM. Barclays lowered their price objective on EPAM Systems from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded EPAM Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of EPAM Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of EPAM Systems from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $305.00 to $288.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.47.

EPAM Systems Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 4.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.62. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.61.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EPAM Systems news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 1,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $277,046.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,009,174. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EPAM Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in EPAM Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $173,053,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $166,906,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 39.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in EPAM Systems by 126.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 769,584 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $179,944,000 after purchasing an additional 429,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in EPAM Systems by 22.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

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.