Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA Shares Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Pegasystems Inc. by 53.9% in the second quarter, owning 63,200 shares now valued at $3.42 million.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Pegasystems, with Citigroup raising it to $70.00 and DA Davidson to $60.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target of $61.83.
• Pegasystems announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, payable on October 15th, reflecting a 0.2% dividend yield.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 53.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,200 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 22,124 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $3,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEGA. Herald Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Pegasystems by 100.0% during the second quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 703,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,086,000 after purchasing an additional 351,800 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 50.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,889 shares of the technology company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 117.3% during the second quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the technology company's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 4,335 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the first quarter worth approximately $761,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the second quarter worth approximately $542,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PEGA. DA Davidson upped their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Pegasystems Stock Down 4.5%

PEGA opened at $53.72 on Friday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.84 and a 52-week high of $61.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.88. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.11 and a beta of 1.08.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company 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 is 10.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 11,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.19, for a total value of $648,643.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 119,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,975,118.92. This represents a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 9,879 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.82, for a total transaction of $571,203.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 78,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,542,339.20. This trade represents a 11.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 132,607 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,274. Corporate insiders own 49.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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