ePlus inc. $PLUS Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 35.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,987 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 55,369 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in ePlus were worth $8,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ePlus by 0.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings 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 during the period. AltraVue Capital LLC grew its holdings in ePlus by 0.7% in the third quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 1,002,883 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $71,215,000 after purchasing an additional 7,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in ePlus by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 471,405 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,474,000 after purchasing an additional 39,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Stock Down 0.6%

PLUS opened at $88.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.04. ePlus inc. has a 52 week low of $62.11 and a 52 week high of $93.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.65.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $581.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $569.25 million. ePlus had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 5.63%. As a group, equities analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. This is an increase from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is 19.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLUS has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered ePlus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In related news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total transaction of $89,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,014,532.60. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,289 shares of company stock worth $115,757 over the last quarter. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.