Elaine Marion Sells 2,818 Shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Stock

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) CFO Elaine Marion sold 2,818 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.22, for a total transaction of $268,329.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

ePlus Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS opened at $92.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.24. ePlus inc. has a 1-year low of $62.11 and a 1-year high of $95.64.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. ePlus had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 5.24%.The company had revenue of $581.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.25 million. Equities research analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.31%.

Institutional Trading of ePlus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi raised its position in ePlus by 333.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 5,361 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 4,123 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 20.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 45,612 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 7,742 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,666 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 103.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $13,817,000 after purchasing an additional 114,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in ePlus by 628.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,066 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PLUS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

ePlus Company Profile

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.