Darren Raiguel Sells 200 Shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) COO Darren Raiguel sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $19,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 69,036 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,528. This represents a 0.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

ePlus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLUS traded down $4.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $90.35. The stock had a trading volume of 275,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,024. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.35. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $62.42 and a one year high of $98.14.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.09. ePlus had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 11.54%. The company had revenue of $649.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.95 million. Research analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ePlus by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 161,166 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 13,369 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,815 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,489,000 after buying an additional 20,163 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of ePlus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,511,000. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 69,187 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,068,000 after buying an additional 29,631 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,378 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $98,604,000 after buying an additional 48,158 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on PLUS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Company Profile

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.