ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Director Sells $44,045.00 in Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) Director John Callies sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.09, for a total transaction of $44,045.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,818,882.32. This represents a 2.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

ePlus Stock Performance

PLUS opened at $86.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $86.53 and a 200 day moving average of $83.46. ePlus inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.14.

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

ePlus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PLUS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC increased its position in shares of ePlus by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in ePlus by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,544 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its holdings in ePlus by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 3,859 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.