62,315 Shares in ePlus inc. $PLUS Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 62,315 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,186,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.24% of ePlus as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PLUS. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of ePlus by 361.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of ePlus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $108,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in ePlus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in ePlus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $150,000. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLUS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In other news, CFO Elaine Marion sold 5,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.41, for a total transaction of $531,604.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,123,410.19. This trade represents a 6.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Darren Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total value of $90,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 68,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,179,709.88. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 13,700 shares of company stock worth $1,301,128 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS opened at $90.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $69.07 and a one year high of $98.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.61.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.09. ePlus had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $649.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.95 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. ePlus’s payout ratio is currently 23.63%.

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.