EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,674 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in EPAM Systems were worth $14,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in EPAM Systems by 1,741.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 36,694 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $7,303,000 after buying an additional 34,701 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 251.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,128 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $3,807,000 after acquiring an additional 13,690 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $734,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in EPAM Systems by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,865,123 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,872,000 after purchasing an additional 39,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in EPAM Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $631,000. 91.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EPAM Systems Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EPAM opened at $235.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.46. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.43 and a 1-year high of $317.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $203.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 4.56.

EPAM Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 8th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 1,000 shares of EPAM Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.00, for a total value of $237,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,886,132. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EPAM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded EPAM Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Scotiabank upgraded EPAM Systems from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on EPAM Systems from $225.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of EPAM Systems from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.20.

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.