Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.91.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush increased 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $80,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,772,818.33. This trade represents a 2.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935 in the last ninety days. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the third quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 29.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA opened at $103.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.96 and a 200-day moving average of $78.03. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $45.95 and a fifty-two week high of $105.34. The company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.39 and a beta of 1.09.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Pegasystems’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 8.76%.

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.