Royce & Associates LP Has $11.10 Million Stock Holdings in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 17.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,356 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,865 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.59% of ePlus worth $11,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ePlus during the third quarter worth approximately $20,990,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ePlus by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,624,923 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $117,157,000 after buying an additional 238,070 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ePlus by 177.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 237,668 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $16,877,000 after buying an additional 152,128 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in ePlus by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 204,857 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,770,000 after buying an additional 118,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $13,817,000 after buying an additional 114,900 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In other ePlus news, Director John E. Callies sold 560 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.69, for a total transaction of $27,582.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,058,611.53. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,271 shares of company stock worth $113,219 in the last quarter. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded ePlus from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research cut ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ePlus Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:PLUS opened at $79.45 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $85.57 and a 200-day moving average of $81.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.00. ePlus inc. has a 12-month low of $53.83 and a 12-month high of $93.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.44. ePlus had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $614.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.60 million. Equities research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.88%.

ePlus 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.