Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 2,499,865 Shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY - Free Report) by 98.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,562 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,499,865 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Bentley Systems were worth $1,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,762,442 shares of the company's stock worth $1,091,604,000 after buying an additional 556,363 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 4.5% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,516,480 shares of the company's stock worth $677,987,000 after buying an additional 578,512 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 1.9% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,446,498 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,196,000 after purchasing an additional 100,207 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 6.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,625,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,520,000 after purchasing an additional 99,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 13.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,401,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,311,000 after purchasing an additional 170,581 shares in the last quarter. 44.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

Shares of BSY traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,385,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,349,805. The company has a market cap of $15.55 billion, a PE ratio of 54.97, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $40.89 and a fifty-two week high of $55.37.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The company had revenue of $310.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.67 million. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 33.87% and a net margin of 26.60%. The business's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bentley Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is a positive change from Bentley Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Bentley Systems's payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Bentley Systems

In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 88,925 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.48, for a total transaction of $4,400,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,164,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,283,576.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 21.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised Bentley Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Bentley Systems from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair began coverage on Bentley Systems in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.44.

Bentley Systems Company Profile

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS.