First Trust Advisors LP Has $43.57 Million Stock Holdings in ePlus inc. $PLUS

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 118.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 579,047 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 313,674 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.19% of ePlus worth $43,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in ePlus by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 904 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,544 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 3,859 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,946 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLUS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of PLUS opened at $89.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.02. ePlus inc. has a 52-week low of $62.11 and a 52-week high of $93.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.04.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $581.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.25 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 11.36%. Research analysts predict that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This is a positive change from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is 22.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ePlus news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total value of $89,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,014,532.60. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $115,757 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

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.