Short Interest in Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Expands By 5.1%

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,970,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the December 15th total of 5,680,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 899,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 4.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Barry J. Bentley sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,048,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $589,761,103.25. This trade represents a 0.41 % 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 Keith A. Bentley sold 69,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,705,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $779,623,656.76. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bentley Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Bentley Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in Bentley Systems by 57.1% during the 3rd 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. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Bentley Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Bentley Systems by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Bentley Systems by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bentley Systems Price Performance

Bentley Systems stock opened at $46.18 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.74. Bentley Systems has a one year low of $43.82 and a one year high of $57.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $13.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.04.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $340.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Bentley Systems will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Bentley Systems’s payout ratio is 21.62%.

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.