AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749,868 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,865 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.87% of Pegasystems worth $69,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,993 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 16,230 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 4,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 84,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,225,559.52. This represents a 34.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,262 shares of company stock worth $10,408,152 over the last ninety days. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $92.42. The stock had a trading volume of 160,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,317. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.71 and a 12 month high of $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of 91.62 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.54.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PEGA. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.27.

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.