Axa S.A. Sells 28,321 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Axa S.A. decreased its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 87.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,951 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 28,321 shares during the period. Axa S.A.'s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,993 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 84,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $93.07 on Friday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.71 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $75.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.93. The firm has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $655,902.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,225,559.52. This represents a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $46,750. This represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,262 shares of company stock worth $10,408,152 over the last three months. Insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEGA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.27.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.