Efstathios Kouninis Sells 982 Shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Pegasystems CAO Efstathios Kouninis sold 982 shares for approximately $36,678, reducing his ownership by 49.32% to 1,009 shares.
• Financial results: The company’s latest quarterly earnings came in below expectations, with EPS of $0.35 versus the $0.43 consensus and revenue of $420.72 million versus $427.38 million, though revenue increased 9.4% year over year.
• Market outlook: Shares recently traded at $36.08, while analysts’ consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $47.40; Pegasystems also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) CAO Efstathios Kouninis sold 982 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.35, for a total value of $36,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,686.15. This trade represents a 49.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ PEGA traded down $0.76 on Thursday, reaching $36.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,559,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,385,550. The company has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.91. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.10 and a 1-year high of $68.10.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.08). Pegasystems had a net margin of 18.66% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The business had revenue of $420.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $427.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is 6.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,406 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 59.8% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 40,987 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 15,343 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,032 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,007,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PEGA shares. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Pegasystems from $58.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Pegasystems from a "market outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Pegasystems from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.40.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc develops enterprise software for customer engagement, workflow automation and business process management. Its solutions help organizations manage customer service, sales, marketing, operations and back-office processes across digital and traditional channels.

The company's product portfolio includes Pega Platform, a low-code application development and automation platform; Pega Customer Service and Pega Sales; Pega Customer Decision Hub for real-time, personalized customer engagement; and tools for case management, robotic process automation and artificial intelligence.

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