Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Wall Street analysts rate Pegasystems “Hold” overall: Of 15 analysts, eight recommend holding, six recommend buying and one recommends selling. The average 12-month price target is $45.73.
• Recent results fell short of expectations: Pegasystems reported quarterly EPS of $0.35 versus the $0.45 consensus estimate, while revenue of $393.36 million missed forecasts of $421.06 million, despite 3.1% year-over-year growth.
• Insiders have been selling shares: Executives sold 53,672 shares worth approximately $1.92 million during the last quarter, while institutional investors own 46.89% of the company.

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.73.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut Pegasystems to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. KeyCorp downgraded Pegasystems from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Loop Capital lowered Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $55.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $42.00 price target on Pegasystems and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 982 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.35, for a total value of $36,677.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,686.15. This represents a 49.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 39,627 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 95,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,406,198.25. The trade was a 29.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,672 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,657 in the last quarter. 48.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,770,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,052,205 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $44,782,000 after buying an additional 363,896 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 117.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 814,062 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,427,000 after buying an additional 439,417 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 58.6% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 137,302 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,844,000 after buying an additional 50,716 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at about $18,232,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $36.71 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $35.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.89. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80 and a beta of 0.89. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $25.10 and a fifty-two week high of $68.10.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.10). Pegasystems had a net margin of 16.86% and a return on equity of 35.22%. The firm had revenue of $393.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.45%.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc is a software company that develops enterprise applications for customer engagement, workflow automation and business process management. Its technology helps organizations manage customer interactions, automate repetitive work, coordinate complex processes and make data-driven decisions across departments and channels.

The company's portfolio includes Pega Platform, a low-code application development and workflow platform, along with solutions for customer service, sales automation, marketing, decisioning and artificial intelligence.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.