Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY - Free Report) by 20.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,612 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,871 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Bentley Systems worth $10,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 514.5% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,134,295 shares of the company's stock worth $204,069,000 after purchasing an additional 3,461,500 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in Bentley Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $88,771,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bentley Systems by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 15,778,600 shares of the company's stock worth $778,832,000 after buying an additional 586,458 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Bentley Systems by 67.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,091,058 shares of the company's stock worth $53,855,000 after buying an additional 441,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Bentley Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,402,000. 44.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.95, for a total value of $2,447,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,048,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $589,761,103.25. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond B. Bentley sold 91,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.43, for a total value of $4,500,354.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,598,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $820,471,566.08. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 326,032 shares of company stock worth $16,168,176 in the last three months. 21.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

Bentley Systems stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,174,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,126. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $49.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.18. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $43.82 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $340.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Bentley Systems's payout ratio is 21.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSY has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Bentley Systems from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Bentley Systems from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bentley Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.50.

About Bentley Systems

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.