Pegasystems' (PEGA) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Pegasystems and set a $47 price target, implying 38.93% upside from the prior close. However, the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with an average target of $45.90.
• Pegasystems shares opened at $33.83, down 1.6%, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.56 billion. The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, reporting $0.35 in EPS versus $0.43 expected and revenue of $420.72 million versus $427.38 million estimated.
• Insiders sold roughly 53,672 shares worth $1.92 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 46.89% of the stock; BlackRock established a new position valued at approximately $286.9 million.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $47.00 price objective on the technology company's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' price target points to a potential upside of 38.93% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on PEGA. William Blair downgraded shares of Pegasystems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $43.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.90.

Pegasystems Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $33.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.57. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $25.10 and a 12-month high of $68.10.

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

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 39,627 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total transaction of $1,417,457.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,406,198.25. The trade was a 29.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios Kouninis sold 1,063 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,164 shares in the company, valued at $45,105. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,672 shares of company stock worth $1,921,657. 48.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems during the second quarter worth $286,923,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Pegasystems by 44.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,048,599 shares of the technology company's stock worth $87,188,000 after acquiring an additional 630,023 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 26.4% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,777,785 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,165,000 after acquiring an additional 370,824 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Pegasystems by 15.6% during the first quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,052,849 shares of the technology company's stock worth $44,809,000 after acquiring an additional 141,873 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Pegasystems by 52.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,052,205 shares of the technology company's stock worth $44,782,000 after acquiring an additional 363,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Company Profile

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.