Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $5.19 Million Investment in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 62,315 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,186,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in ePlus by 3.8% in the 1st 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 period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 118.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 579,047 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $43,573,000 after buying an additional 313,674 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ePlus during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,601,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in ePlus in the second quarter worth $337,929,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in ePlus in the second quarter valued at $1,679,000. 93.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ePlus Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of PLUS stock opened at $90.87 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.79 and its 200 day moving average is $83.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97. ePlus inc. has a twelve month low of $69.07 and a twelve month high of $98.14.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $649.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.95 million. ePlus had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 11.51%. Equities research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLUS has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, ePlus currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Callies sold 500 shares of ePlus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.09, for a total transaction of $44,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,818,882.32. This trade represents a 2.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elaine Marion sold 5,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.41, for a total value of $531,604.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,259 shares in the company, valued at $8,123,410.19. The trade was a 6.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,700 shares of company stock worth $1,301,128. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

ePlus Company 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.