Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $27.62 Million Investment in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 296,385 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,623,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $71.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.28 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $113.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $92.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.24.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. Analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $655,902.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,225,559.52. This represents a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,842 shares of company stock valued at $6,282,587. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Pegasystems

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.