ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) CFO Elaine Marion Sells 158 Shares of Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) CFO Elaine Marion sold 158 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $15,016.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,992,959.04. This trade represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

ePlus Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of PLUS opened at $94.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $90.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96. ePlus inc. has a 12-month low of $70.75 and a 12-month high of $98.14.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $649.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.95 million. ePlus had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 4.91%. Equities research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PLUS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ePlus presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in ePlus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $337,929,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in ePlus by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,378 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $98,604,000 after buying an additional 48,158 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in ePlus by 118.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 579,047 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $43,573,000 after buying an additional 313,674 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of ePlus by 9.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 278,636 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $20,968,000 after buying an additional 24,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ePlus during the second quarter worth approximately $22,888,250. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ePlus

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ: PLUS) is a technology solutions provider that helps organizations design, implement, and manage information technology environments. The company serves commercial businesses, government agencies, and other institutions with solutions spanning networking, data centers, cloud computing, cybersecurity, collaboration, and digital infrastructure.

Through its technology and professional services businesses, ePlus provides hardware, software, consulting, systems integration, managed services, and IT asset management.