ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Grows 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% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 319,275 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,611 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.13% of SS&C Technologies worth $23,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in SS&C Technologies by 39.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,879 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,305,000 after buying an additional 18,878 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 2,178.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 104,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,568,000 after purchasing an additional 100,197 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 4.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 253,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,341,000 after purchasing an additional 11,497 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of SS&C Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $1,661,000. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SS&C Technologies by 4.3% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,942,374 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $309,739,000 after purchasing an additional 201,632 shares during the period. 96.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SSNC. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of SS&C Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of SS&C Technologies from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of SS&C Technologies from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SS&C Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Smita Conjeevaram sold 48,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total value of $3,434,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,172.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Michael Jay Zamkow sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $1,443,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,715,098.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Smita Conjeevaram sold 48,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $3,434,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,576 shares in the company, valued at $678,172.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 609,690 shares of company stock valued at $44,821,055. 15.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SS&C Technologies Price Performance

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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88 and a beta of 1.38.

SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ:SSNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. SS&C Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SS&C Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from SS&C Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. SS&C Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

SS&C Technologies declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About SS&C Technologies

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.