Woodline Partners LP Buys New Shares in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 19,775 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,843,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA traded up $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.49. 212,105 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 753,465. The company's fifty day moving average price is $82.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.49. Pegasystems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.71 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 96.44 and a beta of 1.14.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,234,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,247,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,373,261.02. This represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total transaction of $156,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,077,937.15. The trade was a 12.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,020 shares of company stock valued at $10,404,155 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 49.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEGA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated a "positive" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.27.

Pegasystems Company 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.