Wedbush Reiterates "Outperform" Rating for Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $90.00 price target on the technology company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PEGA. Rosenblatt Securities restated a buy rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. DA Davidson restated a neutral rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $72.33.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Pegasystems stock traded up $2.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.80. 940,337 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 495,019. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.12. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $37.66 and a 52-week high of $69.26. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 53.49% and a net margin of 5.32%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is 14.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,549,875.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $1,301,681.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,549,875.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $25,576.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,781,669 over the last three months. 50.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,862,346 shares of the technology company's stock worth $286,434,000 after acquiring an additional 90,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,118,964 shares of the technology company's stock worth $250,113,000 after purchasing an additional 114,848 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 946,109 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,227,000 after purchasing an additional 31,925 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Pegasystems by 4.9% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 808,001 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,075,000 after buying an additional 37,880 shares during the period. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,471 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,561,000 after buying an additional 143,986 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.