Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 1,851,784 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 89% from the previous session’s volume of 981,386 shares.The stock last traded at $45.45 and had previously closed at $45.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Bentley Systems from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Bentley Systems in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.29.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

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 company’s 50-day moving average is $47.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.04.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems, Incorporated will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 69,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.67, for a total value of $3,246,971.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,705,028 shares in the company, valued at $779,623,656.76. This represents a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 50,000 shares of Bentley Systems 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 169,573 shares of company stock worth $8,166,472. 21.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bentley Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bentley Systems during the third quarter valued at about $59,400,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bentley Systems by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 204,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,396,000 after acquiring an additional 34,871 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bentley Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,134,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its stake in Bentley Systems by 1,155.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 100,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after purchasing an additional 92,768 shares during the period. Finally, Bar Harbor Wealth Management purchased a new position in Bentley Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,413,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.16% of the company’s stock.

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.