Short Interest in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Decreases By 10.4%

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,150,000 shares, a decline of 10.4% from the September 15th total of 7,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 34,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.37, for a total transaction of $1,692,321.19. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,213,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $590,754,805.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bentley Systems news, Director Raymond B. Bentley sold 91,045 shares of Bentley Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.43, for a total transaction of $4,500,354.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,598,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $820,471,566.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 34,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.37, for a total value of $1,692,321.19. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,213,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,754,805.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,032 shares of company stock worth $8,702,676. 21.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bentley Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 45.0% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,316,000 after purchasing an additional 19,700 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bentley Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $935,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bentley Systems by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,252,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,162,002,000 after acquiring an additional 134,516 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $608,000. Finally, Clearline Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,999,000. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BSY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bentley Systems from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.57.

Bentley Systems Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of BSY traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $49.99. 562,664 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,251,155. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a PE ratio of 46.72, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.68 and its 200-day moving average is $50.50. Bentley Systems has a 52 week low of $43.82 and a 52 week high of $57.19.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.08. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 29.17% and a return on equity of 31.71%. The business had revenue of $330.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. Bentley Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bentley Systems will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 22.43%.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS.