Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $100.27.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PEGA shares. Barclays restated a "positive" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 658 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.90, for a total value of $59,154.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,900. This trade represents a 39.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction of $655,902.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,559.52. This represents a 34.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,347,000 after buying an additional 1,546,281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Pegasystems by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 164,986 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,480 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% during the 4th 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 raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $92.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,066,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,953. The company has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.17 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.97. Pegasystems has a 52 week low of $55.71 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

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.