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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of ePlus from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd.

ePlus Stock Up 0.7 %

PLUS traded up $0.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $86.52. The company had a trading volume of 136,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,739. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.73. ePlus has a 12 month low of $53.53 and a 12 month high of $93.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.02. The company has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.09.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.26). ePlus had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $554.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $553.05 million. Equities analysts anticipate that ePlus will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ePlus news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.45, for a total value of $367,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,996 shares in the company, valued at $3,966,006.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other ePlus news, COO Darren S. Raiguel sold 4,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.37, for a total value of $388,428.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 33,290 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,517.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.45, for a total transaction of $367,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,996 shares in the company, valued at $3,966,006.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ePlus by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,403,588 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $191,902,000 after acquiring an additional 27,582 shares during the period. Gobi Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ePlus in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,190,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of ePlus by 75.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,069 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $35,887,000 after acquiring an additional 209,511 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ePlus by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 383,864 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $30,648,000 after acquiring an additional 9,162 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of ePlus in the first quarter valued at about $15,315,000. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ePlus Company Profile

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 in two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; and professional and managed services, including managed, professional, security solutions, cloud consulting and hosting, staff augmentation, storage-as-a-service, server and desktop support, and project management services.