ePlus inc. $PLUS Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its ePlus stake by 15.7% in Q3, selling 14,397 shares and leaving 77,025 shares valued at about $5.47 million, while institutional investors collectively own roughly 93.8% of the stock.
• ePlus beat expectations last quarter with EPS of $1.45 (vs. $1.01 expected) and revenue of $614.77M (vs. $529.6M), but analyst views are mixed—two downgrades to Hold and one upgrade to Buy—resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• COO Darren Raiguel sold 400 shares at $88.05 (reducing his stake by 0.69%); insiders own 1.93% of the company, which pays a $0.25 quarterly dividend (annual $1.00, ~1.3% yield).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,025 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 14,397 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.29% of ePlus worth $5,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PLUS. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in ePlus during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in ePlus by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC acquired a new stake in ePlus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in ePlus by 361.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ePlus by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,536 shares of the software maker's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.05, for a total value of $35,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,491.40. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered ePlus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised ePlus from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

ePlus Trading Up 1.2%

ePlus stock opened at $76.14 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.65. ePlus inc. has a 12-month low of $53.83 and a 12-month high of $93.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.01.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.44. ePlus had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $614.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $529.60 million. As a group, analysts forecast that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. ePlus's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.88%.

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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