LPL Financial LLC Has $1.49 Million Stock Position in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its holdings in ePlus inc. by 20.3% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 26,050 shares valued at $1.49 million.
• ePlus recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.95 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.87, despite revenue falling short of expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 26th, representing an annualized yield of 1.4%.

LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,050 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 6,634 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.10% of ePlus worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ePlus during the 4th quarter worth $127,898,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 496,648 shares of the software maker's stock worth $36,692,000 after purchasing an additional 37,496 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 226,724 shares of the software maker's stock worth $16,751,000 after purchasing an additional 38,317 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 198,729 shares of the software maker's stock worth $12,128,000 after purchasing an additional 27,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 139,844 shares of the software maker's stock worth $8,535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ePlus Price Performance

NASDAQ:PLUS traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $72.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 128,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 194,844. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.14. ePlus inc. has a twelve month low of $53.83 and a twelve month high of $106.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.71.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. ePlus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PLUS shares. Zacks Research raised ePlus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold".

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.