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

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

ePlus Price Performance

Shares of PLUS traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $97.94. 148,741 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 196,766. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. ePlus has a 52-week low of $53.53 and a 52-week high of $102.32. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.37.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $544.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.23 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ePlus will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ePlus

In related news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 64,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,907.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLUS. CWM LLC boosted its stake in ePlus by 1,247.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 593 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in ePlus in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in ePlus during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in ePlus by 1,236.7% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in ePlus during the second quarter worth approximately $156,000. 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 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.