Hancock Whitney Corp Takes $448,000 Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,803 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Pegasystems by 189.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,347,000 after buying an additional 1,546,281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Pegasystems by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,188,000 after purchasing an additional 164,986 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $76,983,000 after acquiring an additional 6,480 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 807,671 shares of the technology company's stock worth $75,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares during the period. Finally, Shannon River Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Shannon River Fund Management LLC now owns 798,356 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,407,000 after buying an additional 9,989 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEGA traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $92.08. 1,066,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 694,130. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.60 and a 200 day moving average of $85.93. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 91.17 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.71 and a twelve month high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.07%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is 5.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction of $655,902.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,559.52. The trade was a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total value of $144,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,084,581.50. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,386,802. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEGA shares. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays restated a "positive" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.27.

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.