Key Points
- Insider sale: Director John Callies sold 560 shares on December 8 at an average price of $90.03 for $50,416.80, reducing his stake by 2.55% to 21,428 shares valued at about $1.93 million.
- Strong earnings beat: ePlus reported Q results with $1.53 EPS versus a $0.95 consensus and revenue of $608.8 million versus $518.3 million expected, and analysts project about 3.78 EPS for the fiscal year.
- Dividend, valuation and sentiment: ePlus declared a $0.25 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield), trades near its 52-week high (~$92.42), has a $2.44 billion market cap and a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" with 93.8% institutional ownership.
ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) Director John Callies sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.03, for a total value of $50,416.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,929,162.84. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
ePlus Stock Performance
Shares of ePlus stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, reaching $92.42. The company had a trading volume of 10,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,966. ePlus inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $93.37. The firm's fifty day moving average is $80.76 and its 200-day moving average is $74.29. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.01.
ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $608.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $518.30 million. ePlus had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 5.40%. On average, research analysts anticipate that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.
ePlus Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. ePlus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.69%.
Institutional Trading of ePlus
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLUS. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ePlus in the third quarter worth $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC acquired a new stake in ePlus in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in ePlus by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in ePlus by 361.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in ePlus by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have recently commented on PLUS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ePlus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ePlus
About ePlus
(
Get Free Report)
ePlus inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions that enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; managed services or infrastructure and cloud; and enhanced maintenance support, service desk, storage-as-a-service, cloud hosted and managed, and managed security services; and professional, staff augmentation, cloud consulting, consulting, and security services.
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