Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Short Interest Down 12.7% in May

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a drop of 12.7% from the April 30th total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Pegasystems from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $2,234,295.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 17,247,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,373,261.02. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 658 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.90, for a total value of $59,154.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,900. The trade was a 39.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,087 shares of company stock worth $10,299,146. 49.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,347,000 after buying an additional 1,546,281 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 1st quarter worth $151,149,000. TPG GP A LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,022,733 shares of the technology company's stock worth $140,620,000 after purchasing an additional 82,845 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,200,819 shares of the technology company's stock worth $81,337,000 after purchasing an additional 450,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth about $68,229,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PEGA stock traded up $0.35 on Friday, hitting $102.19. The stock had a trading volume of 457,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,996. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $55.90 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.89. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.18 and a beta of 1.11.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.06%. Pegasystems's 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.