Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 1-Year High at $73.16

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $73.16 and last traded at $73.02, with a volume of 9162 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PEGA. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.60.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.93 and a 200-day moving average of $62.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.95 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.63%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.78, for a total value of $119,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,197 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,211.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.78, for a total transaction of $119,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,197 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,243,771 over the last 90 days. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bares Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,862,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $286,434,000 after acquiring an additional 90,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after purchasing an additional 250,273 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter worth approximately $67,968,000. Luxor Capital Group LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 7.9% during the second quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 683,939 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,399,000 after purchasing an additional 49,861 shares during the period. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,561,000 after purchasing an additional 143,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.