Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) Director Raymond Bentley Sells 344,203 Shares of Stock

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Director Raymond Bentley sold 344,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.24, for a total transaction of $13,850,728.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,316,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $576,092,096.96. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

Shares of BSY stock opened at $42.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.30, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.18 and its 200 day moving average is $34.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $28.08 and a 52-week high of $50.52.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 28.43% and a net margin of 18.10%. The company had revenue of $410.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Bentley Systems’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 22nd were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 22nd. Bentley Systems’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bentley Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Bentley Systems by 253.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,781,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,924,000 after buying an additional 3,429,087 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems in the second quarter worth $78,738,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bentley Systems during the second quarter worth $40,807,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Bentley Systems by 19.9% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,235,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,260,000 after purchasing an additional 867,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Bentley Systems by 36.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,600,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,320,000 after purchasing an additional 691,806 shares during the period. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSY has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Bentley Systems from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Bentley Systems from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bentley Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bentley Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Incorporated is a software company that develops solutions for the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure. Its customers include engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, construction firms, and infrastructure owner-operators in sectors such as transportation, water, utilities, industrial facilities, and buildings.

The company’s product portfolio includes MicroStation for infrastructure design, ProjectWise for project collaboration, AssetWise for asset performance and operations, and SYNCHRO for construction management.