Gobi Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• Gobi Capital LLC reduced its stake in ePlus inc. by 16.3%, now holding 783,515 shares valued at approximately $47.8 million, making it the firm's 11th largest holding.
• ePlus has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, set to be paid on September 17th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.4%.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on ePlus, with some firms recently changing their ratings on the stock from "strong sell" to "hold" and from "buy" to "hold".

Gobi Capital LLC lowered its stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 783,515 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 152,607 shares during the quarter. ePlus accounts for 2.7% of Gobi Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Gobi Capital LLC owned 2.94% of ePlus worth $47,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PLUS. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ePlus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $127,898,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in ePlus by 9.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 865,318 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $52,810,000 after purchasing an additional 74,986 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in ePlus by 532.0% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 85,192 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 71,712 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ePlus by 94.0% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 141,414 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $8,630,000 after purchasing an additional 68,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in ePlus in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,922,000. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research raised ePlus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold".

ePlus Price Performance

PLUS stock traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.57. The stock had a trading volume of 202,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,545. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.75. ePlus inc. has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $106.98.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. ePlus's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.42%.

ePlus Company 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.