ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, while Zacks Research also raised their rating to "hold".
• ePlus shares have seen a decline of 1.4% recently, with current trading around $73.84 and a market capitalization of $1.97 billion.
• Institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in ePlus, with Osaic Holdings raising its position by 361.9% in the second quarter alone.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Separately, Zacks Research raised shares of ePlus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold".

ePlus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS traded up $0.79 on Friday, hitting $74.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 130,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,486. ePlus has a 12-month low of $53.83 and a 12-month high of $106.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.91 and a 200-day moving average of $67.05.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. ePlus's dividend payout ratio is 22.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of ePlus by 361.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ePlus in the second quarter worth $1,274,000. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of ePlus by 123.5% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,418 shares of the software maker's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,441 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 7.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 89,659 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,464,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 767.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,211 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company's stock.

ePlus Company 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.