First Trust Advisors LP Buys 84,824 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,463 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 84,824 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.57% of Pegasystems worth $45,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 296,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,337. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $73.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.89. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.71 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.09 and a beta of 1.22.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

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 paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.07%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is presently 5.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PEGA. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $211,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This trade represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,949 shares of company stock valued at $8,703,263 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

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.