ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

ePlus Price Performance

NASDAQ:PLUS opened at $98.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.53. ePlus has a 52 week low of $53.53 and a 52 week high of $106.98.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.03). ePlus had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 4.98%. The firm had revenue of $544.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $555.23 million. As a group, analysts forecast that ePlus will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.19, for a total transaction of $460,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 64,442 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,907.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in ePlus by 75.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,069 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $35,887,000 after acquiring an additional 209,511 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 479,731 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $47,407,000 after purchasing an additional 15,294 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 4,036.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,430 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $18,525,000 after purchasing an additional 245,351 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in ePlus during the first quarter valued at approximately $15,315,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in ePlus by 0.7% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 102,809 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,110,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

About ePlus

ePlus inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions that enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; managed services or infrastructure and cloud; and enhanced maintenance support, service desk, storage-as-a-service, cloud hosted and managed, and managed security services; and professional, staff augmentation, cloud consulting, consulting, and security services.