Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Stake in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,440 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in ePlus were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in ePlus in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,922,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ePlus by 76.9% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in ePlus by 4.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 19,979 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in ePlus by 2.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 509,020 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,065,000 after purchasing an additional 12,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of ePlus by 39.0% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,517 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ePlus

In other ePlus news, Director John E. Callies sold 560 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.03, for a total value of $50,416.80. Following the sale, the director owned 21,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,929,162.84. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ePlus Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ PLUS opened at $89.21 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.58. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.01. ePlus inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $93.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $608.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $518.30 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 11.44%. Research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ePlus presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

About ePlus

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.