American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 78,160 Shares of ePlus inc. $PLUS

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006,035 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,160 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 3.81% of ePlus worth $71,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ePlus during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in ePlus by 47.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new stake in ePlus in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in ePlus by 361.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in ePlus in the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PLUS. Wall Street Zen lowered ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised ePlus from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ePlus news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 57,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,491.40. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John E. Callies sold 560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.03, for a total value of $50,416.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,929,162.84. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,271 shares of company stock worth $113,219. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ PLUS opened at $80.57 on Thursday. ePlus inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $93.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.07.

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. ePlus had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $614.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.60 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. ePlus’s payout ratio is 19.88%.

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.