Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) Trading 3.1% Higher

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) traded up 3.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $50.59 and last traded at $50.44. 681,499 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 1,085,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Bentley Systems from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Bentley Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. William Blair assumed coverage on Bentley Systems in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bentley Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.44.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.39, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The company had revenue of $310.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.67 million. Bentley Systems had a return on equity of 33.87% and a net margin of 26.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. This is a boost from Bentley Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Bentley Systems’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 88,925 shares of Bentley Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.48, for a total value of $4,400,009.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,164,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,283,576.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 21.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSY. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Bentley Systems in the first quarter valued at $241,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 250.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 3,436 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 96.7% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 71,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,170,000 after buying an additional 17,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 315.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.