Rifat Kerim Akgonul Sells 9,879 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock

Key Points

• Rifat Kerim Akgonul, an insider at Pegasystems Inc., sold 9,879 shares at an average price of $57.82, resulting in a total transaction of approximately $571,203.78, which reduced his ownership by 11.17%.
• Pegasystems reported an EPS of $0.28 for the last quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24, while the company's revenue rose by 9.5% year-over-year to $384.51 million.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.02 to $0.03, representing a yield of 0.20% and confirming a dividend payout ratio of 10.34%.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 9,879 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.82, for a total value of $571,203.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 78,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,542,339.20. This represents a 11.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Pegasystems Stock Down 0.9%

PEGA stock traded down $0.50 on Friday, reaching $58.21. 337,351 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,018,042. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.06 and a 200-day moving average of $46.02. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.84 and a twelve month high of $60.96. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 49.91 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Pegasystems from $59.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,281 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the first quarter worth $151,149,000. TPG GP A LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 4.3% during the first quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,022,733 shares of the technology company's stock worth $140,620,000 after purchasing an additional 82,845 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 60.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,200,819 shares of the technology company's stock worth $81,337,000 after purchasing an additional 450,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the first quarter worth $68,229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

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.