Fluent Financial LLC Invests $668,000 in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Fluent Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,167 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $668,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. 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 valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Pegasystems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 84,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,829,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 2,049 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total value of $155,006.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,935,237.35. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.41, for a total transaction of $2,154,915.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,184,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,599,443.74. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,020 shares of company stock valued at $10,404,155 in the last three months. 49.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PEGA shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.27.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.35. The stock had a trading volume of 723,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,228. The company has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.40 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $82.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.43. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.71 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

Pegasystems 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.