Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased optimism about the company's potential.
• Analysts are bullish on Pegasystems, with multiple firms raising their price targets, including DA Davidson, Loop Capital, and Citigroup, reflecting a positive outlook on its performance.
• Pegasystems reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with a 9.5% increase in revenue year-over-year, surpassing analyst expectations and confirming its growth trajectory.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Pegasystems from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.83.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 373,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,009,649. The company has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.13. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $29.84 and a 52-week high of $60.96.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The firm had revenue of $384.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This is a boost from Pegasystems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.34%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 45,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $2,587,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 32,961,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,894,967,673.08. The trade was a 0.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 11,147 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.19, for a total transaction of $648,643.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 119,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,975,118.92. This trade represents a 8.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 307,196 shares of company stock valued at $17,609,187 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter valued at approximately $151,149,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter valued at approximately $68,229,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 151.4% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 104.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,779,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $96,316,000 after buying an additional 907,226 shares during the last quarter. 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.