Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Short Interest Update

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,970,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the December 31st total of 5,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 899,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 1,152 shares of Bentley Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.33, for a total transaction of $53,372.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,703,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $773,890,575.08. This trade represents a 0.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 21.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Bentley Systems by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,007,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,242,000 after buying an additional 1,873,029 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in Bentley Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $88,771,000. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Bentley Systems in the third quarter worth $42,773,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 60.9% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 683,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,752,000 after purchasing an additional 258,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems during the third quarter worth $10,501,000. 44.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Bentley Systems from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.29.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

Bentley Systems stock opened at $46.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $13.58 billion, a PE ratio of 42.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.03. Bentley Systems has a twelve month low of $43.82 and a twelve month high of $57.19.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.24. The company had revenue of $335.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.36 million. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 29.50% and a net margin of 27.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bentley Systems will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Bentley Systems’s payout ratio is presently 21.62%.

Bentley Systems Company Profile

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.