Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Boosts Stake in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 592.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,871 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,300 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in ePlus were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its position in ePlus by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 161,166 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 13,369 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in ePlus by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,815 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,489,000 after purchasing an additional 20,163 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in ePlus in the fourth quarter valued at $1,511,000. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 69,187 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,068,000 after buying an additional 29,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,378 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $98,604,000 after buying an additional 48,158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 1,935 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total value of $182,006.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 69,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,512,338.16. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 2,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.22, for a total transaction of $268,329.96. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,107 shares of company stock valued at $572,145. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ePlus Price Performance

NASDAQ PLUS opened at $92.41 on Monday. ePlus inc. has a 52-week low of $62.11 and a 52-week high of $95.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The software maker reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $581.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.25 million. ePlus had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 5.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This is a positive change from ePlus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLUS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

ePlus Profile

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.