Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 48,158 Shares of ePlus inc. $PLUS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,310,378 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 48,158 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 4.96% of ePlus worth $98,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PLUS. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ePlus by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 161,166 shares of the software maker's stock worth $14,134,000 after acquiring an additional 13,369 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of ePlus by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,815 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $4,489,000 after purchasing an additional 20,163 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new stake in ePlus in the fourth quarter worth $1,511,000. Comerica Bank grew its stake in ePlus by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 69,187 shares of the software maker's stock worth $6,068,000 after purchasing an additional 29,631 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in ePlus by 130.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,487 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PLUS shares. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

ePlus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLUS opened at $93.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.02. ePlus inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.11 and a fifty-two week high of $95.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.13.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. ePlus had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $581.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.25 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from ePlus's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. ePlus's payout ratio is currently 22.31%.

Insider Transactions at ePlus

In other ePlus news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total transaction of $89,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,014,532.60. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $115,757. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

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.

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