ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSNC) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 319,275 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,611 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in SS&C Technologies were worth $23,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in SS&C Technologies by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 14,519,103 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $934,595,000 after purchasing an additional 46,211 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,798,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $488,746,000 after buying an additional 53,080 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,942,374 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $309,739,000 after buying an additional 201,632 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,860,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $248,485,000 after buying an additional 25,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SS&C Technologies by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,399,874 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $213,070,000 after buying an additional 1,120,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Jay Zamkow sold 19,000 shares of SS&C Technologies 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 directly owns 22,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,715,098.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael Jay Zamkow sold 19,000 shares of SS&C Technologies 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 directly owns 22,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,715,098.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Normand A. Boulanger sold 130,000 shares of SS&C Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $9,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 333,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,144,958.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 609,690 shares of company stock valued at $44,821,055. 15.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SS&C Technologies Stock Up 0.9 %

SSNC stock opened at $76.66 on Thursday. SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.61 and a 52 week high of $76.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.84 and a 200 day moving average of $67.15.

SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.07. SS&C Technologies had a net margin of 12.33% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. SS&C Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

SS&C Technologies declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

SS&C Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from SS&C Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. SS&C Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of SS&C Technologies from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of SS&C Technologies in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of SS&C Technologies from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SS&C Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.75.

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.