StockNews.com Upgrades ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) to “Buy”

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS opened at $96.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $90.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.48. ePlus has a 1 year low of $53.53 and a 1 year high of $102.32.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). ePlus had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 4.98%. The firm had revenue of $544.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.23 million. On average, research analysts predict that ePlus will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.19, for a total transaction of $460,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 64,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,907.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gobi Capital LLC acquired a new position in ePlus in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,190,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ePlus in the first quarter valued at $1,903,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in ePlus by 349.0% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 16,165 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of ePlus by 100.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 40,552 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,185,000 after buying an additional 20,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in ePlus by 68.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 64,597 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,073,000 after acquiring an additional 26,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

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 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.