LPL Financial LLC Buys 6,344 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 136.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,995 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 448.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $68.34 on Monday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.55 and a 1 year high of $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.66 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.45.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PEGA shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.27.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $139,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.75. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock valued at $6,134,554. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.