Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Invests $233,000 in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Bentley Systems by 2.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,089,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,629,000 after buying an additional 28,634 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Bentley Systems by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,013,000 after acquiring an additional 65,780 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,762,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,604,000 after purchasing an additional 556,363 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Bentley Systems by 223.4% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,045,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,432,000 after purchasing an additional 722,046 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Bentley Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $1,694,000. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bentley Systems Trading Up 2.3 %

BSY opened at $54.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $40.89 and a twelve month high of $55.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.84.

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

Bentley Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This is a positive change from Bentley Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Bentley Systems

In related news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 88,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,164,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,283,576.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 21.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BSY shares. William Blair started coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Bentley Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird upped 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 reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.44.

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.