Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.36.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $78.87 on Monday. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $54.55 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.80. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 78.09 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.88%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total transaction of $71,139.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,489,226.40. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,745 shares of company stock worth $2,001,989. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after buying an additional 164,986 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,983,000 after buying an additional 6,480 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 807,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,275,000 after buying an additional 4,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shannon River Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Shannon River Fund Management LLC now owns 798,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,407,000 after buying an additional 9,989 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.