Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Lowers Stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL reduced its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 86.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,781 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 153,169 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL's holdings in Pegasystems were worth $2,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,031 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,362,000 after purchasing an additional 49,433 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 88,554 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,353,000 after buying an additional 7,947 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 8,284 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEGA traded down $1.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $92.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 212,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,236. The business's fifty day moving average price is $75.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.78. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.71 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The firm has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.06%. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEGA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.90, for a total value of $59,154.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,900. This represents a 39.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 2,049 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total transaction of $155,006.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,935,237.35. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 136,262 shares of company stock valued at $10,408,152 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 50.10% 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.