Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $82.50 and last traded at $82.45, with a volume of 108081 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PEGA shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.90.

Pegasystems Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.54. The company has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.12 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total transaction of $80,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,772,818.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,548 shares of company stock valued at $3,591,018 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,381,000 after purchasing an additional 283,508 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after acquiring an additional 250,273 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 77.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,273,000 after acquiring an additional 218,599 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.