PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 579 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,008 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,118,964 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $250,113,000 after acquiring an additional 114,848 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at $286,000. Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Pegasystems by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,862,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $286,434,000 after buying an additional 90,993 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 86.3% during the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 15,254 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 7,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,471 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,561,000 after buying an additional 143,986 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PEGA shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.50.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $60.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.82 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.32. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $37.66 and a one year high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 45.00% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company had revenue of $330.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.70 million. Research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $608,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,504,779.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $608,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 369,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,504,779.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sharon T. Rowlands acquired 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.63 per share, with a total value of $504,218.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,871 shares in the company, valued at $1,809,966.73. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,752 shares of company stock valued at $834,956. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems 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.