ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $95.22, but opened at $85.00. ePlus shares last traded at $85.02, with a volume of 11,030 shares.

The software maker reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $515.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.50 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 11.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in ePlus by 70.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,117,812 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $109,926,000 after acquiring an additional 463,621 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in ePlus by 6,140.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 312 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ePlus by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 394,903 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,835,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in ePlus by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,387,899 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $136,486,000 after buying an additional 229,837 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 80.4% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,681 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Stock Down 16.0 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 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.

ePlus Company Profile

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.