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

SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC) saw a large 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. Based on an average trading volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SSNC shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of SS&C Technologies in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of SS&C Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of SS&C Technologies in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on SS&C Technologies from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on SS&C Technologies from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.75.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SS&C Technologies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 46,282 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its position in SS&C Technologies by 2.9% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SS&C Technologies by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,112 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 675 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of SS&C Technologies by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 51,497 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,822,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 96.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SS&C Technologies Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of SSNC traded down $0.83 during mid-day 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 current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. SS&C Technologies has a 12-month low of $54.44 and a 12-month high of $77.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.03 and its 200 day moving average is $68.95. The stock has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31 and a beta of 1.39.

SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The technology company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.03. SS&C Technologies had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that SS&C Technologies will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SS&C Technologies announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

SS&C Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from SS&C Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. SS&C Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.84%.

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.