Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,271 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after selling 1,403 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of EPAM Systems worth $16,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in EPAM Systems by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in EPAM Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in EPAM Systems by 590.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 207 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in EPAM Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE EPAM opened at $210.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.51. 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 52-week low of $169.43 and a 52-week high of $317.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $242.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.67.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The information technology services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. EPAM Systems had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 9.61%. Research analysts predict that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EPAM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised EPAM Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on EPAM Systems from $305.00 to $288.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on EPAM Systems from $225.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upgraded EPAM Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered EPAM Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at EPAM Systems

In other news, SVP Viktar Dvorkin sold 6,758 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.53, for a total transaction of $1,733,629.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,334,890. This represents a 34.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total transaction of $119,248.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,263,604. This trade represents a 1.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,300 shares of company stock worth $2,129,924 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.30% 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.