Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from nine research firms, with two analysts recommending a hold and seven a buy rating.
• The company's stock opened at $52.88, with a market capitalization of $9.05 billion and strong earnings reports indicating a revenue increase of 9.5% year-over-year.
• Pegasystems has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.03 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.8333.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, insider John Gerard Higgins sold 23,660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $1,209,380.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,943,698.99. This trade represents a 38.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 63,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total transaction of $3,182,760.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 34,118,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,723,680,967.68. This represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 243,196 shares of company stock valued at $14,519,812. 49.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 5.3% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 3,060 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 50.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,533 shares of the technology company's stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 139.7% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 2.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,756 shares of the technology company's stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $52.88 on Thursday. Pegasystems has a 52 week low of $29.84 and a 52 week high of $60.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.44 and a 200 day moving average of $46.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.39 and a beta of 1.10.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $384.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.07 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 42.42%. Pegasystems's revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Pegasystems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Pegasystems's payout ratio is 10.34%.

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.

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