ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Shares Pass Below 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $82.13 and traded as low as $80.47. ePlus shares last traded at $80.79, with a volume of 124,212 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ePlus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

ePlus Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.23.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.44. ePlus had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 5.63%.The company had revenue of $614.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.60 million. Analysts predict that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In other news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 311 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.69, for a total transaction of $27,582.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 57,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,058,611.53. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ePlus by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,453,215 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $215,147,000 after acquiring an additional 8,146 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in ePlus by 0.9% during 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. raised its stake in ePlus by 8.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,035 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $71,439,000 after acquiring an additional 78,160 shares in the last quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC raised its stake in ePlus by 0.7% during the third quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 1,002,883 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $71,215,000 after acquiring an additional 7,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in ePlus by 9.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 471,405 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,474,000 after acquiring an additional 39,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% 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.