Korea Investment CORP Increases Stake in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)

Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) by 50.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,200 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,807 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in EPAM Systems were worth $15,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPAM. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,906,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in EPAM Systems by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 664,286 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $155,323,000 after buying an additional 217,960 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in EPAM Systems by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 533,571 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $124,760,000 after acquiring an additional 47,659 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 522,144 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $122,088,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of EPAM Systems in the 4th quarter worth $86,699,000. 91.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 1,078 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,009,174. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

EPAM Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPAM opened at $168.72 on Monday. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.00 and a twelve month high of $277.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $220.95 and its 200 day moving average is $220.74.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last issued 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 return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EPAM. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on EPAM Systems from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EPAM Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of EPAM Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on EPAM Systems from $305.00 to $288.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.