SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Position in ePlus inc. $PLUS

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 130.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,487 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.05% of ePlus worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ePlus by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 20,703 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ePlus by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ePlus by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,210 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of ePlus by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 904 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ePlus by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,536 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on PLUS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ePlus from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ePlus Price Performance

NASDAQ PLUS opened at $79.47 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.01. ePlus inc. has a 12 month low of $54.06 and a 12 month high of $93.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $614.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $529.60 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 311 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.69, for a total transaction of $27,582.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 57,037 shares in the company, valued at $5,058,611.53. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.