Insider Selling: Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) Director Sells 500,000 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Director Raymond Bentley sold 500,000 shares for about $23.2 million at an average price of $46.47 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 3.49%.
• Bentley Systems beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $0.36 versus $0.33 expected and revenue of $421.5 million, up 12.2% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $46.67; shares traded at $45.40 in the report.

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) Director Raymond Bentley sold 500,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total transaction of $23,235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,816,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $642,048,293.88. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Bentley Systems Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:BSY traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $45.40. 3,009,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,896,546. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.51. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $28.08 and a fifty-two week high of $48.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a PE ratio of 44.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.98.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $421.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $420.69 million. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 19.57% and a return on equity of 29.99%. Bentley Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 1.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Bentley Systems's payout ratio is 27.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Bentley Systems from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Bentley Systems from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bentley Systems from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Bentley Systems from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.67.

Institutional Trading of Bentley Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Bentley Systems by 1.5% during the third quarter. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd now owns 386,383 shares of the company's stock worth $12,345,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bentley Systems by 17.0% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,404,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,813,000 after purchasing an additional 348,786 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 19.1% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bentley Systems in the third quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 36.5% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 47,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. 44.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bentley Systems Company Profile

Bentley Systems develops software for professionals who design, build, and operate infrastructure. Its customers include engineering firms, architects, construction companies, and infrastructure owners and operators working on projects such as roads, railways, buildings, utilities, and industrial facilities.

The company's products support computer-aided design, project collaboration, infrastructure asset management, and digital twin development. Its software portfolio includes MicroStation for design and modeling, ProjectWise for project information management, and the iTwin platform for creating and working with digital representations of infrastructure assets.

Founded in 1984 by brothers Keith and Barry Bentley, the company serves customers around the world.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.