Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 4,731 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 216.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,915 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,731 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Pegasystems were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,493 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 448.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 17,184,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,175,599,443.74. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 598 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.00, for a total value of $61,594.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,098. This represents a 78.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,015 shares of company stock valued at $9,191,326 over the last quarter. 49.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Pegasystems stock traded down $2.37 on Friday, hitting $98.84. The stock had a trading volume of 663,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,344. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $55.90 and a one year high of $113.67. The stock has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.86 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.32.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $116.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Pegasystems to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.18.

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.