ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $95.22, but opened at $85.00. ePlus shares last traded at $85.02, with a volume of 11,030 shares.

The software maker reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.12). ePlus had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $515.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.50 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of ePlus 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 directly owns 64,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,907.98. This trade represents a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,546 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 3.2% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in ePlus by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,400 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $987,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ePlus by 1.6% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 13,020 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 203.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 376 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ePlus Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

About ePlus

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.