JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Position in ePlus inc. $PLUS

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 15.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,025 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 14,397 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in ePlus were worth $5,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PLUS. Medina Value Partners LLC purchased a new position in ePlus during the third quarter worth about $2,730,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of ePlus by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 102,884 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,306,000 after acquiring an additional 13,225 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of ePlus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,161,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 50.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,483 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 9,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden lifted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 285.4% in the 3rd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 17,730 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 13,130 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PLUS. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ePlus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen cut ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded ePlus from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ePlus Stock Performance

Shares of PLUS opened at $76.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.01. ePlus inc. has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $93.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.65.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The software maker reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $614.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $529.60 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.06%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ePlus news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.05, for a total value of $35,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 57,348 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,491.40. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About ePlus

ePlus Inc (NASDAQ:PLUS) is a technology solutions provider that helps enterprises and public-sector organizations maximize the value of their information technology investments. The company specializes in designing, implementing and managing complex IT infrastructures, with a focus on security, cloud computing, data center modernization and unified communications. By combining consulting services with software license management and hardware procurement, ePlus delivers end-to-end solutions that align with its clients’ strategic objectives.

The company’s offerings include cybersecurity assessments and managed security services, hybrid and public cloud deployments, network architecture and optimization, and collaboration platforms.