Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA Shares Acquired by Herald Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• Herald Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Pegasystems Inc. by 100% during the second quarter, becoming the company's 3rd largest investor with approximately $38 million in holdings.
• Several research firms have downgraded Pegasystems' stock rating, with Wall Street Zen changing its rating from "strong-buy" to "buy," while other firms have adjusted their price targets ranging from $50 to $70.
• In recent insider trading activity, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of Pegasystems stock, resulting in a 19.87% decrease in his ownership, while total insider sales over the last ninety days amounted to $10 million.

Herald Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 100.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 703,600 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 351,800 shares during the period. Pegasystems makes up approximately 5.7% of Herald Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Herald Investment Management Ltd owned about 0.41% of Pegasystems worth $38,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 139.7% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 159.8% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 730 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 50.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PEGA. Wall Street Zen lowered Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total transaction of $150,199.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at $605,811.36. This trade represents a 19.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.97, for a total transaction of $227,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 70,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,028,747.49. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,607 shares of company stock worth $10,044,574 in the last ninety days. 49.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $55.46 on Monday. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $29.84 and a one year high of $61.00. The company has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a PE ratio of 47.61 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.94 and a 200-day moving average of $49.42.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a 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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