EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $258.11, but opened at $235.34. EPAM Systems shares last traded at $221.40, with a volume of 365,836 shares traded.

The information technology services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by ($0.52). EPAM Systems had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 9.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EPAM. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of EPAM Systems in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised EPAM Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna increased their price target on EPAM Systems from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised EPAM Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised EPAM Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.83.

Insider Transactions at EPAM Systems

In other news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 1,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total value of $277,046.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,009,174. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Viktar Dvorkin sold 6,758 shares of EPAM Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.53, for a total value of $1,733,629.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,334,890. This represents a 34.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,129,924 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EPAM Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GTS Securities LLC boosted its stake in EPAM Systems by 106.5% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 864 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 14,055 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in EPAM Systems by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 282,360 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $66,021,000 after buying an additional 98,731 shares during the period. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in EPAM Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $342,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in EPAM Systems by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 347,067 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $81,151,000 after buying an additional 51,410 shares during the period. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in EPAM Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $12,683,000. Institutional investors own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 4.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.18. The stock has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.51.

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.