Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 860,361 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 164,986 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.00% of Pegasystems worth $80,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Pegasystems by 189.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 398.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,505,000 after acquiring an additional 561,807 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth $27,623,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.1 %

PEGA stock opened at $91.16 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.93. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.26 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.71 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results 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, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.07%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEGA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,528,043.58. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Larry Weber sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.55, for a total transaction of $100,705.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,547 shares in the company, valued at $599,377.85. The trade was a 14.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,386,802 over the last three months. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems 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.