Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Break Below 50-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Pegasystems shares fell below their 50-day moving average, trading as low as $33.59 and closing around $34.11, down 3.6%. The stock’s 50-day and 200-day averages were $35.28 and $37.40, respectively.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with earnings per share of $0.35 versus the $0.45 consensus and revenue of $393.36 million versus $421.06 million expected, despite 3.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Pegasystems has an overall “Hold” consensus rating and a $45.73 average price target, while recent targets ranged from $25 to $43. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, yielding about 0.4%.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) crossed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.28 and traded as low as $33.59. Pegasystems shares last traded at $34.11, with a volume of 2,024,282 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEGA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. DA Davidson set a $35.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pegasystems from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.73.

Pegasystems Stock Down 3.6%

The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $35.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.40.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.10). Pegasystems had a net margin of 16.86% and a return on equity of 35.22%. The business had revenue of $393.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Pegasystems's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 1st. Pegasystems's payout ratio is currently 7.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Kerim Akgonul sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total transaction of $252,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 104,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,776,088.12. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dianne Ledingham sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.15, for a total value of $34,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 38,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,307,262. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 53,672 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,657 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 48.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 21.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Pegasystems by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the technology company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Pegasystems by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in Pegasystems by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,709 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc is a software company that develops enterprise applications for customer engagement, workflow automation and business process management. Its technology helps organizations manage customer interactions, automate repetitive work, coordinate complex processes and make data-driven decisions across departments and channels.

The company's portfolio includes Pega Platform, a low-code application development and workflow platform, along with solutions for customer service, sales automation, marketing, decisioning and artificial intelligence.

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