American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stake in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in ePlus inc. by 9.5% during the first quarter, holding approximately 3.25% of the company, valued at around $52.8 million.
• ePlus reported earnings per share of $0.95 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.87, despite revenue falling short at $498.11 million compared to forecasts of $523.85 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a scheduled payout date of September 17th, representing an annualized yield of 1.4%.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 865,318 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 74,986 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 3.25% of ePlus worth $52,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ePlus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $127,898,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in ePlus by 532.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 85,192 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,294,000 after buying an additional 71,712 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in ePlus in the first quarter worth $3,922,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in ePlus by 44,179.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 62,434 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,810,000 after acquiring an additional 62,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 111,499 shares of the software maker's stock worth $8,238,000 after acquiring an additional 50,732 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $72.35. 156,455 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 195,545. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.14. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $53.83 and a one year high of $106.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.62.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 5.47%.The company had revenue of $498.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $523.85 million. Equities analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th.

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.