Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 210.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 407,321 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 276,273 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.48% of Pegasystems worth $37,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 19,597 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,875 shares of the technology company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,394 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $92.16. 634,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 694,658. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a PE ratio of 91.25 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.71 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,528,043.58. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,762 shares of company stock worth $10,386,802. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PEGA. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.27.

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.