ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PLUS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of PLUS stock opened at $87.21 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $88.87 and a 200-day moving average of $78.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.02. ePlus has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $93.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.58. ePlus had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $608.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $518.30 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ePlus will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is 21.69%.

Insider Transactions at ePlus

In other ePlus news, Director John E. Callies sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.03, for a total value of $50,416.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,929,162.84. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ePlus by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,445,069 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $173,624,000 after purchasing an additional 8,281 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,624,923 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $117,157,000 after purchasing an additional 238,070 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of ePlus by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,019,061 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $73,474,000 after buying an additional 8,956 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of ePlus by 8.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,035 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $71,439,000 after buying an additional 78,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AltraVue Capital LLC lifted its holdings in ePlus by 0.7% in the third quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 1,002,883 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $71,215,000 after buying an additional 7,460 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.