Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $99.00 to $123.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Pegasystems Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of PEGA opened at $92.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 67.45 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $44.07 and a 12 month high of $97.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.28 and its 200-day moving average is $72.19.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS 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 return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Pegasystems’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total value of $54,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,763,936. The trade was a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,688 over the last 90 days. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 5.0% in the second quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,099 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 29.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Pegasystems by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.