Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 680,737 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 1,064,881 shares.The stock last traded at $47.21 and had previously closed at $47.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BSY. William Blair assumed coverage on Bentley Systems in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised Bentley Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Bentley Systems from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.44.

Bentley Systems Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.79.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The firm had revenue of $310.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.67 million. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 33.87% and a net margin of 26.60%. Bentley Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Bentley Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This is a boost from Bentley Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Bentley Systems

In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 88,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.48, for a total transaction of $4,400,009.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,164,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,283,576.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 22.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BSY. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 30,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 57,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 1.9% in the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 12,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 43.6% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 87.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS.