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

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. 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 on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

PEGA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction of $655,902.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,225,559.52. This represents a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 2,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total transaction of $155,006.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,935,237.35. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $220,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,281 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after buying an additional 164,986 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,983,000 after acquiring an additional 6,480 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 807,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,275,000 after acquiring an additional 4,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shannon River Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Pegasystems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Shannon River Fund Management LLC now owns 798,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,407,000 after acquiring an additional 9,989 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $63.30 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.59. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $54.55 and a 12 month high of $113.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 62.67 and a beta of 1.25.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.88%.

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.