Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) Short Interest Up 5.1% in January

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Bentley Systems in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Bentley Systems in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Bentley Systems from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bentley Systems

In other news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 1,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.33, for a total value of $53,372.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,703,876 shares in the company, valued at $773,890,575.08. This trade represents a 0.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 21.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bentley Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSY. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Bentley Systems by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,007,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,029 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in Bentley Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $88,771,000. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Bentley Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $42,773,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bentley Systems by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 683,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,752,000 after purchasing an additional 258,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Bentley Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $10,501,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.16% of the company’s stock.

Bentley Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:BSY opened at $45.86 on Tuesday. Bentley Systems has a 52 week low of $43.82 and a 52 week high of $57.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.56.

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.24 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $340.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Bentley Systems will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Bentley Systems Dividend Announcement

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

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.