Brokerages Set Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target at $93.91

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.91.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PEGA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.8 %

PEGA opened at $103.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.39 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $45.95 and a 12 month high of $105.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.76.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 5,792 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $458,436.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,210. The trade was a 24.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,914 shares of company stock worth $2,414,935. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after buying an additional 284,095 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,381,000 after buying an additional 283,508 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,567,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 440.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,770,000 after acquiring an additional 120,090 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc develops, markets, licenses, hosts, and supports enterprise software in the United States, rest of the Americas, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides Pega Infinity, a software portfolio comprising of Pega Customer Decision Hub, a real-time AI-powered decision engine to enhance customer acquisition and experiences across inbound, outbound, and paid media channels; Pega Customer Service to anticipate customer needs, connect customers to people and systems, and automate customer interactions to evolve the customer service experience, as well as to allow enterprises to deliver interactions across channels and enhance employee productivity; and Pega Platform, an intelligent automation software for increasing efficiency of clients’ processes and workflows.