ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Stock Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)’s stock price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $81.60 and traded as low as $75.06. ePlus shares last traded at $76.78, with a volume of 190,857 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ePlus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.60.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $614.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $529.60 million. ePlus had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 5.63%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ePlus inc. 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In other news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 400 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.05, for a total value of $35,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 57,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,491.40. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ePlus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ePlus by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,453,215 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $215,147,000 after buying an additional 8,146 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ePlus by 17.2% in the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,624,923 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $117,157,000 after buying an additional 238,070 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of ePlus by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,019,061 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $73,474,000 after buying an additional 8,956 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,035 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $71,439,000 after acquiring an additional 78,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AltraVue Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 1,002,883 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $71,215,000 after acquiring an additional 7,460 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is 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.