Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Cut to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pegasystems (NASDAQ: PEGA) has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen.
• Recent reports have resulted in varying price targets for Pegasystems, with estimates ranging from $47.00 to $70.00 from different analysts.
• Pegasystems reported a 9.5% year-over-year revenue growth and exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $0.28 earnings per share.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

PEGA has been the topic of several other research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $59.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.80.

Pegasystems Stock Down 0.5%

Pegasystems stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.64. 317,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,025,371. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.50 and a 200-day moving average of $45.74. The company has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.19 and a beta of 1.13. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $29.84 and a twelve month high of $60.46.

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

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. This is a boost from Pegasystems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. Pegasystems's payout ratio is presently 10.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 9,879 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.82, for a total value of $571,203.78. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,542,339.20. The trade was a 11.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 63,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.25, for a total transaction of $3,039,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 34,243,120 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,230,540. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 251,467 shares of company stock worth $14,340,547. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 139.7% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 159.8% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 730 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 50.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.