Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Stock Position Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) by 20.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,612 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,871 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bentley Systems were worth $10,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BSY. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bentley Systems by 4,618.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Bentley Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Bentley Systems by 57.1% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bentley Systems by 75.4% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bentley Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bentley Systems

In other Bentley Systems news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 34,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.37, for a total transaction of $1,692,321.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,213,248 shares in the company, valued at $590,754,805.76. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,987 shares of company stock valued at $9,157,821. 21.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Bentley Systems from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.43.

Bentley Systems Price Performance

BSY opened at $47.58 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.61 and a 200-day moving average of $49.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $43.82 and a 1-year high of $57.19.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 27.73% and a return on equity of 29.50%. The firm had revenue of $335.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Bentley Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.62%.

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.