ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $93.99 and last traded at $93.1090, with a volume of 34348 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $92.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PLUS. Zacks Research downgraded ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

ePlus Stock Down 2.3%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.02.

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

ePlus Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In related news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,935 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total value of $182,006.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 69,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,512,338.16. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,289 shares of company stock valued at $303,815. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ePlus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLUS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ePlus by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,453,215 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $215,147,000 after buying an additional 8,146 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in ePlus by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,378 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $98,604,000 after acquiring an additional 48,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in ePlus by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,019,061 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $73,474,000 after acquiring an additional 8,956 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in ePlus by 118.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 579,047 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $43,573,000 after acquiring an additional 313,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in ePlus by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 471,405 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,474,000 after acquiring an additional 39,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

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.