Raymond James & Associates Has $10.27 Million Position in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its stake in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,598 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 17,520 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.48% of ePlus worth $10,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PLUS. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 55.5% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,225 shares of the software maker's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 8.6% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,709 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ePlus by 188.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,374 shares of the software maker's stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of ePlus by 34.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,462 shares of the software maker's stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of ePlus by 13.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 23,179 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company's stock.

ePlus Stock Up 0.2 %

ePlus stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.22. The stock had a trading volume of 61,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,451. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 1.18. ePlus inc. has a 12 month low of $41.71 and a 12 month high of $83.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.99.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.24 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $509.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $598.25 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 15.26%. Research analysts predict that ePlus inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In other ePlus news, Director John E. Callies sold 1,308 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.17, for a total value of $103,554.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,493 shares in the company, valued at $1,622,430.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PLUS shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on ePlus from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Sidoti lowered ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th.

About ePlus

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 in two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; and professional and managed services, including managed, professional, security solutions, cloud consulting and hosting, staff augmentation, storage-as-a-service, server and desktop support, and project management services.