Short Interest in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Rises By 6.1%

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,430,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the May 15th total of 8,890,000 shares. Approximately 7.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Bentley Systems Price Performance

Shares of BSY stock opened at $51.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.48, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Bentley Systems has a 12 month low of $44.76 and a 12 month high of $57.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.25.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $337.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.00 million. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 32.62%. Research analysts expect that Bentley Systems will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 22.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bentley Systems

In other Bentley Systems news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 118,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total value of $6,543,384.49. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,031,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $936,919,483.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 59,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total value of $3,268,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,972,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $933,650,788.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 118,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $6,543,384.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,031,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $936,919,483.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,390 shares of company stock valued at $10,748,234 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 21.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bentley Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 87.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Bentley Systems by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 7,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Bentley Systems by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Dfpg Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bentley Systems by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 17,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Bentley Systems by 97.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BSY. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $60.00) on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Bentley Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.29.

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.