ePlus inc. $PLUS Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,616,749 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 6,210 shares during the period. ePlus makes up 1.6% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of ePlus worth $141,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 361.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of ePlus by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 904 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in ePlus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in ePlus by 856.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,731 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in ePlus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $138,000. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In other news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total value of $89,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,014,532.60. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $115,757 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PLUS. Weiss Ratings cut ePlus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of PLUS stock opened at $81.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.87. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $62.11 and a one year high of $93.98.

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

ePlus Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 17th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.31%.

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.