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

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.56.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PEGA shares. TheStreet raised shares of Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Pegasystems Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $57.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 81.14 and a beta of 1.06. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $37.66 and a 12-month high of $69.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 39.30%. The firm had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 1,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $95,955.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,533 shares in the company, valued at $2,267,005.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 1,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $95,955.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,005.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $127,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,884 shares in the company, valued at $1,585,110.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669. 50.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Pegasystems by 219.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.