Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes $2.78 Million Position in Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Pegasystems, purchasing 51,404 shares valued at approximately $2.78 million in the second quarter.
• Several large investors have significantly increased their positions in Pegasystems, with Massachusetts Financial Services leading with a new investment valued at about $151 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Pegasystems, with Citigroup setting a new target of $70.00, indicating a strongly positive outlook for the stock.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 51,404 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,782,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter valued at about $151,149,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter valued at about $68,229,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 60.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,200,819 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $81,337,000 after purchasing an additional 450,951 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 275.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 603,183 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,933,000 after purchasing an additional 442,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broad Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter valued at about $21,532,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PEGA. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 11,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.19, for a total transaction of $648,643.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 119,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,975,118.92. The trade was a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total transaction of $150,199.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $605,811.36. This represents a 19.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 181,607 shares of company stock worth $10,255,134 over the last three months. Company insiders own 49.70% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Stock Down 3.1%

PEGA opened at $58.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.03 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.34. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.84 and a twelve month high of $61.00.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $384.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.07 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The company's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.34%.

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.

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