Insider Selling: ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) COO Sells $182,006.10 in Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) COO Darren Raiguel sold 1,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total transaction of $182,006.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 69,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,512,338.16. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

ePlus Trading Down 2.3%

PLUS traded down $2.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $90.99. 323,088 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,157. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.13. ePlus inc. has a 1 year low of $62.11 and a 1 year high of $95.64.

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

ePlus Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ePlus by 361.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of ePlus in the 4th quarter valued at about $108,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 856.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,731 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in ePlus in the fourth quarter worth about $138,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in ePlus in the third quarter worth about $154,000. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PLUS. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.