Constellation Software (TSE:CSU) Stock Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Constellation Software Inc. (TSE:CSU)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$2,785.95 and traded as high as C$3,003.84. Constellation Software shares last traded at C$3,003.78, with a volume of 44,706 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CSU. National Bank Financial upped their target price on Constellation Software from C$3,500.00 to C$3,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$4,400.00 price target on shares of Constellation Software and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Constellation Software from C$3,185.00 to C$3,294.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Desjardins upped their price target on Constellation Software from C$3,800.00 to C$3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Constellation Software from C$3,200.00 to C$3,500.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Constellation Software has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$3,884.40.

Constellation Software Stock Up 3.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 141.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$2,994.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$2,785.95. The company has a market capitalization of C$63.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.72.

Constellation Software (TSE:CSU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported C$18.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Constellation Software had a net margin of 7.57% and a return on equity of 25.24%. The company had revenue of C$4.74 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Constellation Software Inc. will post 55.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Software Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 18th. Constellation Software’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Constellation Software news, Director Jamal Nizam Baksh sold 149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$2,871.23, for a total value of C$427,813.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$410,585.89. This trade represents a 51.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider John Edward Billowits sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$3,203.00, for a total transaction of C$3,843,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,370 shares in the company, valued at C$39,621,110. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 5.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Constellation Software

Constellation Software is an international provider of market-leading software and services to a number of industries. Our mission is to acquire, manage and build market-leading software businesses that develop specialized, mission-critical software solutions to address the specific needs of our particular industries. Our company was founded in 1995 to assemble a portfolio of vertical market software companies that have the potential to be leaders in their particular market. Since then, we have grown rapidly through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, and established a strong constellation of companies with a large, diverse customer base.