EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) Stake Lowered by Martin Currie Ltd.

Martin Currie Ltd. decreased its stake in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,365 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 3,747 shares during the period. EPAM Systems accounts for 1.3% of Martin Currie Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Martin Currie Ltd.’s holdings in EPAM Systems were worth $34,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EPAM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in EPAM Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $173,053,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in EPAM Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $166,906,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 664,286 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $155,323,000 after purchasing an additional 217,960 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 533,571 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $124,760,000 after buying an additional 47,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,144 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $122,088,000 after buying an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Price Performance

EPAM opened at $168.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $220.95 and a 200-day moving average of $220.62. The company has a quick ratio of 4.56, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.00 and a 12-month high of $277.04.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Equities analysts forecast that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $277,046.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,382 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through this link. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on EPAM shares. Scotiabank cut their target price 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. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of EPAM Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.47.

EPAM Systems 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.