Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Pegasystems has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 8 buy ratings and 3 holds among 11 covering brokerages. The average 12-month price target is $63.30.
• The stock was trading up 1.6% at $29.84, near its 1-year low of $28.72 and well below its 1-year high of $68.10. It has a market cap of about $4.99 billion and a P/E ratio of 16.04.
• Recent results were weaker than expected, with quarterly EPS of $0.46 versus a $0.68 estimate and revenue of $429.97 million below forecasts. The company also declared a $0.03 quarterly dividend, yielding about 0.4% annually.

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.30.

PEGA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th.

Pegasystems Trading Up 1.6%

PEGA opened at $29.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 0.86. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $28.72 and a 1-year high of $68.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.38.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.22). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 30.05% and a net margin of 20.04%.The business had revenue of $429.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is currently 6.45%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $27,742.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,306.56. The trade was a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,545 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.35, for a total transaction of $151,575.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,570,784.50. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,795 shares of company stock valued at $229,613. 48.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,652 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 39,881 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc is a software company specializing in customer engagement and digital process automation solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pegasystems develops enterprise applications designed to help organizations streamline operations, manage customer interactions and automate complex workflows. Its platform supports a wide range of use cases, from sales and marketing optimization to case management and robotic process automation.

The core of Pegasystems' offering is the Pega Platform, a low-code development environment that enables businesses to build and deploy applications with minimal hand-coding.

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