EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 761,600 shares, a growth of 8.6% from the October 15th total of 701,200 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 582,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Insider Transactions at EPAM Systems

In related news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,886,132. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 39,531 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 14,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 657,070 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $123,601,000 after buying an additional 652,515 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in EPAM Systems by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 595,486 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $112,017,000 after buying an additional 264,570 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in EPAM Systems by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 515,351 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $102,570,000 after acquiring an additional 160,989 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EPAM Systems during the second quarter worth $84,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on EPAM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of EPAM Systems in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $204.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on EPAM Systems from $245.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on EPAM Systems from $225.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna raised their target price on EPAM Systems from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on EPAM Systems from $222.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.20.

EPAM Systems Stock Performance

Shares of EPAM stock traded down $1.89 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $233.40. 558,251 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 623,550. The company has a current ratio of 4.56, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.84. EPAM Systems has a 52-week low of $169.43 and a 52-week high of $317.50.

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

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.