Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $45.10 and traded as high as $54.97. Pegasystems shares last traded at $54.68, with a volume of 1,709,846 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PEGA. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $62.50 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $47.50 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.05.

Pegasystems Trading Up 1.2%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.10. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09 and a beta of 1.13.

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. This is an increase from Pegasystems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Pegasystems's payout ratio is currently 11.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In related news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $3,176,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 17,027,892 shares in the company, valued at $1,716,922,350.36. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 1,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $61,594.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,098. This trade represents a 78.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 306,530 shares of company stock worth $15,621,291 in the last quarter. 49.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,546,281 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at about $151,149,000. TPG GP A LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 82,845 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 450,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at about $68,229,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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