Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,150,000 shares, a drop of 10.4% from the September 15th total of 7,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BSY. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bentley Systems from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.57.

Bentley Systems Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ BSY traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.05. The company had a trading volume of 468,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,243,069. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.75 and a 200 day moving average of $50.49. Bentley Systems has a 1-year low of $43.82 and a 1-year high of $57.19.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $330.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.20 million. Bentley Systems had a net margin of 29.17% and a return on equity of 31.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bentley Systems will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Bentley Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.92, for a total transaction of $2,546,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,148,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,588,126.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.92, for a total value of $2,546,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,148,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,588,126.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 34,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.37, for a total transaction of $1,692,321.19. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,213,248 shares in the company, valued at $590,754,805.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 226,032 shares of company stock worth $11,248,676 over the last quarter. 21.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bentley Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Bentley Systems by 4,618.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 519 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Bentley Systems by 90.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Bentley Systems by 68,500.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Bentley Systems by 57.1% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 759 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Bentley Systems by 75.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.