Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Grows Stake in Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Progress Software Corporation by 1,772.9% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 156,615 shares valued at about $8.07 million.
• The company's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.40 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $1.30, along with a year-over-year revenue growth of 35.6%.
• Several analysts have adjusted their ratings on Progress Software's stock, with Citigroup lowering its price target from $64.00 to $57.00 while others maintain a "buy" rating with varying target prices.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS - Free Report) by 1,772.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,615 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 148,253 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.36% of Progress Software worth $8,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PRGS. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Progress Software in the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Progress Software by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,523 shares of the software maker's stock worth $52,284,000 after buying an additional 5,474 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Progress Software in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,432,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progress Software by 149.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 494 shares of the software maker's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Progress Software by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the software maker's stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PRGS shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Progress Software from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progress Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Krall acquired 5,125 shares of Progress Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $48.90 per share, with a total value of $250,612.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 100,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,401. This represents a 5.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Anthony Folger sold 5,529 shares of Progress Software stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.97, for a total value of $292,871.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,307,320.23. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progress Software Stock Down 1.5%

PRGS stock opened at $43.26 on Tuesday. Progress Software Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.88 and a twelve month high of $70.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.78 and a 200 day moving average of $56.61.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 30th. The software maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.10. Progress Software had a return on equity of 43.72% and a net margin of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $237.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $237.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Progress Software Corporation will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progress Software Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.

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.