Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush has raised its price target for Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from $70.00 to $75.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.67% from the current stock price.
• In addition to Wedbush's upgrade, DA Davidson also increased its target price for Pegasystems from $60.00 to $85.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Pegasystems recently reported a quarterly revenue of $381.35 million, surpassing analyst expectations, and reflected a year-over-year revenue increase of 17.3%.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Wedbush from $70.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the technology company's stock. Wedbush's price target points to a potential upside of 21.67% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.61.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Pegasystems stock traded down $3.95 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.64. 643,333 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,834,841. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $29.84 and a 12 month high of $67.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.06. The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 41.23 and a beta of 1.08.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.12. Pegasystems had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 43.30%. The company had revenue of $381.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $351.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 11,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.19, for a total value of $648,643.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 119,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,975,118.92. This trade represents a 8.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total transaction of $150,199.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $605,811.36. The trade was a 19.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,728 shares of company stock worth $7,073,070 over the last ninety days. 49.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Pegasystems by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,050,075 shares of the technology company's stock worth $219,231,000 after buying an additional 1,875,896 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 236.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,037,552 shares of the technology company's stock worth $217,584,000 after buying an additional 2,836,733 shares during the last quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Pegasystems by 76.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,542,716 shares of the technology company's stock worth $191,767,000 after buying an additional 1,536,726 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Pegasystems by 255.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,907,677 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,393,000 after buying an additional 2,089,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Pegasystems by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,444,661 shares of the technology company's stock worth $132,329,000 after buying an additional 620,878 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.