SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 9,115 Shares of ePlus inc. $PLUS

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its position in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 62.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,372 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 9,115 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in ePlus were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PLUS. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ePlus by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in ePlus by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 904 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in ePlus by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,544 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its holdings in ePlus by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 3,859 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ePlus by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,946 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ePlus Price Performance

NASDAQ:PLUS opened at $87.86 on Friday. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $62.11 and a one year high of $93.98. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.42 and a 200-day moving average of $83.03.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $581.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $569.25 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 11.36%. On average, equities 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is 22.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In related news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total transaction of $89,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 55,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,014,532.60. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $115,757 in the last 90 days. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PLUS. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded ePlus from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.