Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Raises Dividend to $0.03 Per Share

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, June 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of 0.03 per share by the technology company on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This is a 100.0% increase from Pegasystems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02.

Pegasystems has a payout ratio of 3.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Pegasystems to earn $2.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.6%.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock traded down $1.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.21. 1,772,204 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 771,144. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $56.61 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.46. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.16 and a beta of 1.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Gerard Higgins sold 11,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.23, for a total transaction of $1,209,380.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,943,698.99. This represents a 38.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.41, for a total transaction of $2,154,915.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 17,184,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,599,443.74. This represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,515 shares of company stock valued at $12,374,086. 49.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 141,900.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 4,257 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 450.4% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,844 shares of the technology company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 5.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 248,168 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,253,000 after buying an additional 13,075 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 18.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 155,783 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,830,000 after buying an additional 23,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 55.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,476 shares of the technology company's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEGA. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $47.50 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.09.

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.