WCM Investment Management LLC Has $26.97 Million Stock Position in ePlus inc. $PLUS

WCM Investment Management LLC reduced its position in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 379,481 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 53,745 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ePlus were worth $26,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,624,923 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $117,157,000 after buying an additional 238,070 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in ePlus by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,019,061 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $73,474,000 after acquiring an additional 8,956 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 927,875 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $66,900,000 after purchasing an additional 62,557 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 921,854 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $66,466,000 after purchasing an additional 50,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 671,943 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $48,453,000 after purchasing an additional 16,804 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLUS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLUS opened at $87.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.86. ePlus inc. has a twelve month low of $53.83 and a twelve month high of $93.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.01.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.58. ePlus had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 5.40%.The firm had revenue of $608.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $518.30 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. ePlus’s payout ratio is 21.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John E. Callies sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.03, for a total transaction of $50,416.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,929,162.84. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.