Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,970,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the December 15th total of 5,680,000 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 899,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.95, for a total transaction of $2,447,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,048,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $589,761,103.25. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 69,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.67, for a total transaction of $3,246,971.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,705,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $779,623,656.76. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bentley Systems

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Bentley Systems by 24.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,134,295 shares of the company's stock worth $260,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $88,771,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Bentley Systems by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,323,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,222,000 after buying an additional 390,000 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bentley Systems by 3.5% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,161,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,998,000 after buying an additional 39,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Bentley Systems by 67.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,091,058 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,855,000 after buying an additional 441,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.16% of the company's stock.

Bentley Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BSY traded down $0.54 during trading on Monday, reaching $45.44. The company had a trading volume of 3,051,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,067. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.77. Bentley Systems has a 12 month low of $43.82 and a 12 month high of $57.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.04.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 29.50% and a net margin of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $335.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. Bentley Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bentley Systems will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Bentley Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BSY. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Bentley Systems from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.29.

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.