Bentley Systems Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:BSY)

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 10,130 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 3,584% compared to the average volume of 275 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSY. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 1,529.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 668 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 2.6% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 375,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,242,000 after acquiring an additional 9,557 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 97.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 160,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,670,000 after acquiring an additional 79,286 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems during the second quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems in the second quarter valued at $248,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.16% of the company’s stock.

Bentley Systems Trading Up 6.4%

Bentley Systems stock traded up $1.91 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,429,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,002,343. The stock has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Bentley Systems has a 1-year low of $28.08 and a 1-year high of $59.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.16.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 28.65% and a net margin of 18.12%.The firm had revenue of $424.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bentley Systems will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BSY. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bentley Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Bentley Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Bentley Systems from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered Bentley Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Bentley Systems in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.50.

Bentley Systems Company Profile

Bentley Systems, Inc is a global software provider specializing in infrastructure engineering applications for the design, construction, and operations of roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, water and wastewater networks, power plants and grids, industrial facilities, and communications infrastructure. Founded in 1984 by brothers Keith and Barry Bentley, the company is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, and maintains offices and development centers across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.