Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Pegasystems from “hold” to “strong sell,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with a $50.10 price target.
• Pegasystems shares opened at $33.83, well below their 52-week high of $68.10. The company’s latest quarterly results also missed expectations, reporting $0.35 in EPS versus the $0.43 consensus and revenue of $420.72 million versus $427.38 million expected.
• Insiders sold 5,250 shares worth approximately $180,008 during the past quarter, although insiders still own 48.40% of the company and institutional investors own 46.89%.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on PEGA. Loop Capital lowered shares of Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut Pegasystems from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Pegasystems from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, William Blair cut Pegasystems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.10.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $33.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.87. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $25.10 and a 1 year high of $68.10. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.56.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $420.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $427.38 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 18.66%.Pegasystems's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.99, for a total transaction of $101,970.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 108,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,672,585.51. This trade represents a 2.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total value of $26,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,894 shares in the company, valued at $100,566.50. This represents a 20.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,250 shares of company stock worth $180,008. Insiders own 48.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Pegasystems by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 617 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 302.2% during the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 929 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc is a software company specializing in customer engagement and digital process automation solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pegasystems develops enterprise applications designed to help organizations streamline operations, manage customer interactions and automate complex workflows. Its platform supports a wide range of use cases, from sales and marketing optimization to case management and robotic process automation.

The core of Pegasystems' offering is the Pega Platform, a low-code development environment that enables businesses to build and deploy applications with minimal hand-coding.

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