AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Stake in ePlus inc. $PLUS

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 258.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,795 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 14,278 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in ePlus were worth $1,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PLUS. Quarry LP boosted its position in ePlus by 33.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 632 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in ePlus by 625.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,023 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in ePlus by 34.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,503 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in ePlus by 628.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,066 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 302.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,788 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Zacks Research raised ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Trading Up 1.1%

ePlus stock opened at $74.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.00. ePlus inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $106.98.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.42%.

About ePlus

ePlus inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions that enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; managed services or infrastructure and cloud; and enhanced maintenance support, service desk, storage-as-a-service, cloud hosted and managed, and managed security services; and professional, staff augmentation, cloud consulting, consulting, and security services.