Advisors Preferred LLC Purchases Shares of 4,144 EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,144 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EPAM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 643.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 417,526 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $83,100,000 after purchasing an additional 361,363 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 664,286 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $155,323,000 after acquiring an additional 217,960 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in EPAM Systems by 45.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 515,351 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $102,570,000 after purchasing an additional 160,989 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EPAM Systems by 199.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 173,721 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $34,576,000 after buying an additional 115,720 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in EPAM Systems in the third quarter valued at about $21,787,000. 91.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EPAM Systems Stock Performance

EPAM Systems stock opened at $260.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.56, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. EPAM Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.43 and a twelve month high of $317.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $241.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.13. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 33.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of EPAM Systems from $305.00 to $288.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of EPAM Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of EPAM Systems from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Scotiabank raised EPAM Systems from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded EPAM Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason D. Peterson sold 464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total value of $119,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,263,604. This trade represents a 1.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Viktar Dvorkin sold 6,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.53, for a total transaction of $1,733,629.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,334,890. The trade was a 34.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,129,924 over the last ninety days. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.