Legal & General Group Plc Sells 307,624 Shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Bentley Systems, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSY) by 34.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 596,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 307,624 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.21% of Bentley Systems worth $27,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BSY. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Bentley Systems by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 997 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Tobam purchased a new position in Bentley Systems during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Bentley Systems during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bentley Systems by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bentley Systems by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 44.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bentley Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSY opened at $41.90 on Monday. Bentley Systems, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $36.51 and a 1 year high of $57.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.37. The company has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.06.

Bentley Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 19th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Bentley Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Bentley Systems’s payout ratio is currently 38.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith A. Bentley sold 1,152 shares of Bentley Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.33, for a total value of $53,372.16. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 21.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bentley Systems in a report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Bentley Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Bentley Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Bentley Systems in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Bentley Systems from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.67.

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.