Short Interest in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Increases By 7.1%

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,460,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the March 31st total of 8,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.8 days. Currently, 7.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Bentley Systems Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BSY opened at $51.47 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.87. Bentley Systems has a 12-month low of $41.44 and a 12-month high of $55.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.99, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 1.08.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 26.60% and a return on equity of 33.87%. The business had revenue of $310.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.67 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bentley Systems 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 paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Bentley Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 17,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $936,155.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,150,752 shares in the company, valued at $943,291,360. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 17,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $936,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,150,752 shares in the company, valued at $943,291,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 88,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.48, for a total value of $4,400,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,164,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,283,576.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 21.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BSY. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Bentley Systems by 223.4% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,045,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,432,000 after acquiring an additional 722,046 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bentley Systems by 4.5% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,516,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,987,000 after purchasing an additional 578,512 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,762,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,091,604,000 after purchasing an additional 556,363 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 43.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,089,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,656,000 after purchasing an additional 327,577 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bentley Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,424,000. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.