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

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $80.93, but opened at $71.25. ePlus shares last traded at $73.29, with a volume of 23,971 shares trading hands.

The software maker reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.37). ePlus had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 11.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLUS. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,387,899 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $136,486,000 after buying an additional 229,837 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in ePlus by 70.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,117,812 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $109,926,000 after acquiring an additional 463,621 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in ePlus by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,021,341 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $100,439,000 after purchasing an additional 6,241 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of ePlus by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 968,998 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $95,291,000 after purchasing an additional 164,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 731,909 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $71,987,000 after purchasing an additional 105,526 shares during the period. 93.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ePlus Stock Down 13.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.83 and a 200-day moving average of $86.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.85.

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.