Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) reached a new **52-week high** at $60.56 during trading, reflecting strong market interest and a significant volume of over **2.1 million shares** traded.
• Recent analyst reports saw price target upgrades, with Barclays raising its target from $50 to **$58** and Citigroup increasing it from $66 to **$70**, indicating widespread **bullish sentiment** around the stock.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of **$0.28 per share**, surpassing expectations and showcasing a **9.5% revenue growth** from the previous year, further solidifying its financial health.

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $60.56 and last traded at $60.39, with a volume of 2118181 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $59.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PEGA. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Pegasystems Stock Down 2.2%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.02. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 4,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.64, for a total transaction of $210,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 49,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,597,784. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 1,196 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $61,594.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,098. This represents a 78.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 247,049 shares of company stock valued at $14,142,653. Company insiders own 49.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 189.0% in the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at about $151,149,000. TPG GP A LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $140,620,000 after buying an additional 82,845 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 151.4% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,516,532 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $82,090,000 after buying an additional 913,349 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 60.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,200,819 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $81,337,000 after buying an additional 450,951 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

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.