KBC Group NV Sells 140,165 Shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated $BSY

KBC Group NV reduced its position in shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) by 63.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140,165 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Bentley Systems were worth $2,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Bentley Systems by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,080,000 after buying an additional 410,799 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Bentley Systems by 150.9% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,661,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,803,241 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,468,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,060,000 after acquiring an additional 216,257 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,185,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,584,000 after acquiring an additional 259,780 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 36.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,600,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,320,000 after purchasing an additional 691,806 shares during the last quarter. 44.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BSY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Bentley Systems from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets set a $41.00 target price on Bentley Systems in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Bentley Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Bentley Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Bentley Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BSY opened at $31.40 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.61 and its 200-day moving average is $34.22. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $28.08 and a 52-week high of $59.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.68, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.00.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 28.65%. The business had revenue of $424.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $419.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Bentley Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 31.82%.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Inc is a global software provider specializing in infrastructure engineering applications for the design, construction, and operations of roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, water and wastewater networks, power plants and grids, industrial facilities, and communications infrastructure. Founded in 1984 by brothers Keith and Barry Bentley, the company is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, and maintains offices and development centers across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.