WCM Investment Management LLC Sells 142,693 Shares of ePlus inc. $PLUS

WCM Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 44.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,750 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 142,693 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.67% of ePlus worth $13,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PLUS. 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 buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ePlus by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 904 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ePlus by 3.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 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 worth $338,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ePlus by 0.8% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,946 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In other news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total value of $89,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,014,532.60. This represents 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 the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $115,757 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Price Performance

Shares of PLUS stock opened at $90.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.00. ePlus inc. has a 1 year low of $62.11 and a 1 year high of $93.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $569.25 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 11.36%. Equities research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This is an increase from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PLUS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research cut shares of ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

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.