Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.08 Million Stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,027 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 8,713 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of ePlus worth $13,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in ePlus by 203.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 376 shares of the software maker's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 1,247.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 593 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ePlus in the second quarter valued at $66,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 1,236.7% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in ePlus during the 2nd quarter worth about $156,000. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elaine D. Marion sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.19, for a total value of $460,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 64,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,907.98. This represents a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.02% of the company's stock.

ePlus Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.62. The stock had a trading volume of 172,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,789. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $95.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.13. ePlus inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $106.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

About ePlus

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.