Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Price Target Cut by Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered Pegasystems’ price target from $55 to $52 while maintaining a “Buy” rating, implying approximately 51% upside from the stock’s $34.38 price.
• Pegasystems shares fell 1.5% during Tuesday trading. The stock has a consensus “Hold” rating from analysts, with an average price target of $45.90.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed analyst expectations, reporting $0.35 in adjusted earnings per share versus $0.43 expected and revenue of $420.72 million versus $427.38 million estimated.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the technology company's stock. Citigroup's target price suggests a potential upside of 51.25% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PEGA. Citizens Jmp downgraded Pegasystems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Pegasystems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. DA Davidson downgraded Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $35.00 price objective on Pegasystems and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.90.

Pegasystems Stock Down 1.5%

Pegasystems stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $34.38. 1,877,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,322,946. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $25.10 and a 1-year high of $68.10. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.68.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.08). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 18.66%. The company had revenue of $420.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $427.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 1,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $41,191.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,105. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 39,627 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total value of $1,417,457.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,225 shares in the company, valued at $3,406,198.25. The trade was a 29.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 53,672 shares of company stock worth $1,921,657 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 48.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signature Equity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 302.2% in the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 929 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter worth $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 21.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the second quarter valued at $62,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc is an enterprise software company that develops applications for customer engagement, business process management and workflow automation. Its software is designed to help organizations manage complex operations, improve customer service and automate decision-making across departments and channels.

The company's product portfolio includes Pega Platform, a low-code application development and process automation platform, as well as solutions for customer relationship management, customer service, sales automation, marketing, fraud detection and case management.

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