Insider Selling: ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) CFO Sells $466,429.86 in Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) CFO Elaine Marion sold 4,842 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.33, for a total transaction of $466,429.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,635,019.47. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of PLUS stock opened at $94.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.96. ePlus inc. has a 52-week low of $70.75 and a 52-week high of $98.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.58.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.09. ePlus had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $649.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.95 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLUS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ePlus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $337,929,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in ePlus by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,378 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $98,604,000 after buying an additional 48,158 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in ePlus by 118.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 579,047 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $43,573,000 after buying an additional 313,674 shares during the last quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in ePlus in the 2nd quarter worth about $22,888,250. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in ePlus by 9.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 278,636 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $20,968,000 after purchasing an additional 24,348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Company Profile

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ: PLUS) is a technology solutions provider that helps organizations design, implement, and manage information technology environments. The company serves commercial businesses, government agencies, and other institutions with solutions spanning networking, data centers, cloud computing, cybersecurity, collaboration, and digital infrastructure.

Through its technology and professional services businesses, ePlus provides hardware, software, consulting, systems integration, managed services, and IT asset management.