Short Interest in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Decreases By 9.0%

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,580,000 shares, a decrease of 9.0% from the June 30th total of 8,330,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Insider Activity at Bentley Systems

In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 59,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $3,268,694.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,972,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $933,650,788.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Bentley Systems news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 59,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $3,268,694.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,972,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $933,650,788.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 118,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $6,543,384.49. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,031,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $936,919,483.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 21.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bentley Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 514.5% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,134,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,069,000 after purchasing an additional 3,461,500 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,117,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,154,093,000 after purchasing an additional 355,092 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bentley Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,424,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 2,250.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 211,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,055,000 after purchasing an additional 202,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bentley Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,382,000. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Bentley Systems stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $47.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 556,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,319,008. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. Bentley Systems has a one year low of $44.76 and a one year high of $57.19. The stock has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company had revenue of $337.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.00 million. As a group, analysts expect that Bentley Systems will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BSY shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $60.00) on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Bentley Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.29.

About Bentley Systems

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.