Swedbank AB Sells 50,000 Shares of ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its position in ePlus by 11.1%, selling 50,000 shares and leaving a 400,000-share stake (about 1.51% of the company) valued at roughly $35.08 million at quarter-end.
• ePlus beat expectations for the quarter with EPS of $1.45 vs. $1.01 and revenue of $614.77M vs. $529.6M, and the stock was up about 4% (market cap ≈ $2.29B, PE 17.26).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Zacks upgraded to Strong Buy while Weiss Ratings and Wall Street Zen downgraded to Hold, though the MarketBeat consensus remains Buy.

Swedbank AB decreased its position in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 400,000 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 1.51% of ePlus worth $35,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Amundi grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 333.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 5,361 shares of the software maker's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 4,123 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 45,612 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,784,000 after buying an additional 7,742 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,666 shares of the software maker's stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the software maker's stock worth $13,817,000 after buying an additional 114,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 628.3% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,066 shares of the software maker's stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 2,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ePlus news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.69, for a total transaction of $27,582.59. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 57,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,058,611.53. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PLUS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of ePlus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

ePlus Stock Up 4.0%

NASDAQ PLUS opened at $86.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.04. ePlus inc. has a 52 week low of $62.11 and a 52 week high of $93.98. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $79.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.47.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $614.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.60 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.06%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ePlus inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

About ePlus

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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