ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) COO Sells $182,006.10 in Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) COO Darren Raiguel sold 1,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total transaction of $182,006.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 69,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,512,338.16. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

ePlus Stock Performance

PLUS stock opened at $92.41 on Friday. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $62.11 and a one year high of $95.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.96 and a 200-day moving average of $83.24.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. ePlus had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $581.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.25 million. Equities analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This is a positive change from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. ePlus’s payout ratio is presently 22.31%.

Institutional Trading of ePlus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in ePlus by 361.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in ePlus during the fourth quarter worth about $108,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in ePlus by 856.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,731 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in ePlus in the fourth quarter valued at about $138,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of ePlus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLUS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

About ePlus

ePlus Inc (NASDAQ:PLUS) is a technology solutions provider that helps enterprises and public-sector organizations maximize the value of their information technology investments. The company specializes in designing, implementing and managing complex IT infrastructures, with a focus on security, cloud computing, data center modernization and unified communications. By combining consulting services with software license management and hardware procurement, ePlus delivers end-to-end solutions that align with its clients’ strategic objectives.

The company’s offerings include cybersecurity assessments and managed security services, hybrid and public cloud deployments, network architecture and optimization, and collaboration platforms.