Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Position in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in ePlus inc. by 16.8%, selling 157,302 shares and now holding approximately 2.93% of the company's stock worth $47.6 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Quarry LP and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, significantly increased their positions in ePlus, with some reporting increases of over 2,300%.
• ePlus recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.4%, and has reported earnings per share of $0.95 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 16.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 780,298 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 157,302 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 2.93% of ePlus worth $47,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ePlus by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,448,514 shares of the software maker's stock worth $149,433,000 after acquiring an additional 11,051 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in ePlus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $127,898,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in ePlus by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 865,318 shares of the software maker's stock worth $52,810,000 after acquiring an additional 74,986 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in ePlus by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 509,020 shares of the software maker's stock worth $31,065,000 after acquiring an additional 12,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 38,317 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ePlus Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of PLUS stock traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 123,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 192,033. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.14. ePlus inc. has a one year low of $53.83 and a one year high of $106.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.74.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. ePlus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.42%.

ePlus 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.