Traders Buy High Volume of Pegasystems Call Options (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Key Points

• Traders exhibited significant interest in Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) by purchasing 3,158 call options, marking a 241% increase from the average daily volume.
• CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 11,147 shares of Pegasystems stock, amounting to approximately $648,643, which decreased his ownership by 8.51%.
• Analysts are optimistic about Pegasystems, with several raising their price targets; Citigroup set a new target of $70.00 while Loop Capital also increased theirs to $70.00.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 3,158 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 241% compared to the average daily volume of 925 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 11,147 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total value of $150,199.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $605,811.36. This represents a 19.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 132,607 shares of company stock valued at $7,644,274 over the last three months. Insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 274.2% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 565 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Pegasystems by 139.7% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in Pegasystems by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 696 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 902.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 682 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.50.

Pegasystems Stock Up 10.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA traded up $5.75 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,002,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,821,039. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $29.84 and a 12-month high of $67.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.91 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.96.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $381.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.95 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 13.14%.Pegasystems's revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is currently 10.34%.

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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