ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

PLUS has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research downgraded ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ePlus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ePlus has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ePlus Price Performance

Shares of ePlus stock opened at $74.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.62. ePlus has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $93.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.60 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ePlus will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. ePlus’s payout ratio is currently 19.88%.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In other news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.05, for a total value of $35,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,491.40. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLUS. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 333.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 5,361 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 4,123 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ePlus by 20.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 45,612 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 7,742 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in ePlus by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,666 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in ePlus by 103.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $13,817,000 after purchasing an additional 114,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in ePlus by 628.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,066 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.