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

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

ePlus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLUS opened at $98.82 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $90.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.87. ePlus has a 1-year low of $53.53 and a 1-year high of $102.32.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.03). ePlus had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 4.98%. The business had revenue of $544.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.23 million. Analysts forecast that ePlus will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In related news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.19, for a total transaction of $460,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 64,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,907.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gobi Capital LLC acquired a new position in ePlus in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,190,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 4,036.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,430 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $18,525,000 after purchasing an additional 245,351 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in ePlus by 75.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,069 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $35,887,000 after buying an additional 209,511 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in ePlus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,315,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in ePlus in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,740,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

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 through two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; managed services or infrastructure and cloud; and enhanced maintenance support, service desk, storage-as-a-service, cloud hosted and managed, and managed security services; and professional, staff augmentation, cloud consulting, consulting, and security services.