Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,713 Shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,027 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 8,713 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of ePlus worth $13,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PLUS. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 463,621 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in ePlus by 4,036.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,430 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $18,525,000 after acquiring an additional 245,351 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of ePlus by 19.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,387,899 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $136,486,000 after acquiring an additional 229,837 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 75.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,069 shares of the software maker's stock worth $35,887,000 after purchasing an additional 209,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in ePlus by 20.4% in the third 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 period. Institutional investors own 93.80% of the company's stock.

ePlus Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLUS traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.50. The stock had a trading volume of 159,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,312. The company's 50 day moving average price is $84.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.45. 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 inc. has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $106.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

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.