Ellsworth Advisors LLC Buys 134 Shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,102 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in ePlus were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of ePlus by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,137 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Zebra Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ePlus by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Zebra Capital Management LLC now owns 11,302 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of ePlus by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 34,469 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of ePlus by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 14,062 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of ePlus by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,780 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLUS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sidoti lowered shares of ePlus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of ePlus from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Insider Activity at ePlus

In related news, Director John E. Callies sold 1,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.17, for a total value of $103,554.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,622,430.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ePlus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.54. 217,590 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 233,313. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.44. ePlus inc. has a 1-year low of $41.71 and a 1-year high of $83.57.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.24 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $509.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $598.25 million. ePlus had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 15.26%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ePlus inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

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 in two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; and professional and managed services, including managed, professional, security solutions, cloud consulting and hosting, staff augmentation, storage-as-a-service, server and desktop support, and project management services.