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 on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.82, for a total transaction of $571,203.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 78,560 shares in the company, valued at $4,542,339.20. The trade was a 11.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Pegasystems Trading Up 1.9%

PEGA traded up $1.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $59.95. 1,952,574 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,038,453. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $51.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.65. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.84 and a 12-month high of $60.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.46 and a beta of 1.13.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $384.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.07 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. This is an increase from Pegasystems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $59.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Pegasystems from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEGA. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 139.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 159.8% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 730 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 50.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the first quarter valued at $57,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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