Short Interest in SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC) Grows By 29.1%

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,310,000 shares, an increase of 29.1% from the October 15th total of 1,790,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut SS&C Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of SS&C Technologies from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of SS&C Technologies from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of SS&C Technologies in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of SS&C Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.75.

SS&C Technologies Stock Performance

SSNC traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,564,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,081,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.95. SS&C Technologies has a 52-week low of $54.44 and a 52-week high of $77.02. The company has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31 and a beta of 1.39.

SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The technology company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.03. SS&C Technologies had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. SS&C Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that SS&C Technologies will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SS&C Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

SS&C Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from SS&C Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. SS&C Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael Jay Zamkow sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $1,443,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,098.72. This trade represents a 45.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Rahul Kanwar sold 412,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.13, for a total transaction of $30,143,454.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 57,642 shares in the company, valued at $4,215,359.46. This trade represents a 87.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 561,190 shares of company stock valued at $41,386,285 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 15.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of SS&C Technologies in the 1st quarter worth about $94,939,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 49.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,399,874 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $213,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,961 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 5.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,059,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,191,774,000 after purchasing an additional 817,501 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SS&C Technologies by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267,057 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,900,000 after purchasing an additional 571,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,071,540 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,975,000 after purchasing an additional 564,017 shares during the last quarter. 96.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SS&C Technologies Company Profile

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides software products and software-enabled services to financial services and healthcare industries. The company owns and operates technology stack across securities accounting; front-office functions, such as trading and modeling; middle-office functions comprising portfolio management and reporting; back-office functions, such as accounting, performance measurement, reconciliation, reporting, processing and clearing, and compliance and tax reporting; and healthcare solutions consisting of claims adjudication, benefit management, care management, and business intelligence solutions.