Royal Bank of Canada Has $19.06 Million Stock Holdings in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in ePlus inc. by 12.0%, owning 312,352 shares worth approximately $19 million after selling 42,600 shares in the first quarter.
• Various institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in ePlus, with Quarry LP, Versant Capital Management, and GAMMA Investing LLC raising their stakes by 33.6% to 625.5% during the same period.
• ePlus announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a yield of 1.4%, payable to investors on September 17th.

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 312,352 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 42,600 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.17% of ePlus worth $19,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PLUS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 532.0% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 85,192 shares of the software maker's stock worth $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 71,712 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in ePlus by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 109,966 shares of the software maker's stock worth $8,124,000 after buying an additional 9,539 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ePlus by 74.4% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 14,302 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in ePlus by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 74,274 shares of the software maker's stock worth $5,487,000 after buying an additional 16,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ePlus by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,773 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 6,476 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ePlus Stock Up 0.6%

PLUS traded up $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $74.29. 4,162 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 199,905. ePlus inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $106.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.17.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. ePlus's payout ratio is currently 22.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded ePlus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold".

About ePlus

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.