UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) Stock

Key Points

• UBS Group raised its price target for Bentley Systems from $53.00 to $60.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.65% from its current stock price.
• Despite the positive target increase from UBS, shares of Bentley Systems fell by 4.4%, trading down to $52.80.
• Bentley Systems has a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with a wide range of target prices from various firms, highlighting varied opinions on the stock's performance.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by research analysts at UBS Group from $53.00 to $60.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.40% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BSY. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bentley Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Bentley Systems from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Bentley Systems from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Bentley Systems from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Bentley Systems from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.60.

Bentley Systems Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:BSY traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,189,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,072. The business's 50 day moving average is $54.04 and its 200-day moving average is $47.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. Bentley Systems has a one year low of $36.51 and a one year high of $59.25. The company has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.10.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $364.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $363.51 million. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 28.41%. Bentley Systems's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Raymond B. Bentley sold 122,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.70, for a total value of $6,191,179.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,347,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,114,396.80. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.54, for a total transaction of $8,331,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,859,327 shares in the company, valued at $214,347,021.58. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,189,869 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,388 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bentley Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems during the first quarter worth $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 1,529.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 668 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 361.9% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 739 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 1,707.1% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 759 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 106.6% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 843 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. 44.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bentley Systems Company Profile

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS.