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

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.91.

PEGA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $82.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA opened at $85.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.25 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $48.51 and a 1-year high of $113.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.73.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. Equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total value of $71,139.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,489,226.40. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.00, for a total transaction of $188,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,547,804. This trade represents a 10.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,003 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,086. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $436,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 25,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,567,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 88,554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,353,000 after acquiring an additional 7,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $497,000. 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.