Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.27.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $92.08. 1,066,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 693,953. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $73.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.17 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $55.71 and a 12-month high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems's payout ratio is 5.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 owns 17,308,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,762 shares of company stock worth $10,386,802 over the last quarter. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 49.8% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 28,574 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,494 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Pegasystems by 31.9% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 58,008 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,033,000 after buying an additional 14,013 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 108.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,839,000 after acquiring an additional 36,171 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 343,220 shares of the technology company's stock worth $23,861,000 after acquiring an additional 19,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,664,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

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.