Itau BBA Securities Upgrades EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) to “Outperform”

Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $269.00 price target on the information technology services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on EPAM. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of EPAM Systems from $237.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their price target on EPAM Systems from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded EPAM Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on EPAM Systems from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on EPAM Systems from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EPAM Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.50.

EPAM Systems Stock Performance

NYSE:EPAM traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $233.45. 794,168 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,863. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.46. EPAM Systems has a 1 year low of $169.43 and a 1 year high of $317.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.28. The company has a quick ratio of 4.84, a current ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The information technology services provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.19. EPAM Systems had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that EPAM Systems will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EPAM Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of EPAM Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPAM. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 251.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,128 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $3,807,000 after purchasing an additional 13,690 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $734,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 0.6% in the first 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 purchased a new position in shares of EPAM Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $631,000. 91.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.