Phocas Financial Corp. Purchases 26,203 Shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. increased its stake in ePlus inc. by 61.7%, owning 68,642 shares valued at approximately $4.19 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Despite this investment activity, Wall Street analysts have downgraded ePlus from a "buy" to a "hold" rating.
• In its most recent earnings report, ePlus posted an EPS of $0.95, surpassing the $0.87 forecast, although its revenue of $498.11 million fell short of expectations.

Phocas Financial Corp. increased its holdings in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 61.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,642 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 26,203 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned approximately 0.26% of ePlus worth $4,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the software maker's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 377.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 712 shares of the software maker's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of ePlus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 625.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,023 shares of the software maker's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,168 shares of the software maker's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of PLUS traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.65. 44,230 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,339. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.51. ePlus inc. has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $106.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.08. ePlus had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $498.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $523.85 million. Equities analysts anticipate that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus 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.