Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 258,974 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,428 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $24,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $46,750. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $185,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,811,670.35. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 136,262 shares of company stock worth $10,408,152. 49.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Pegasystems stock opened at $96.28 on Tuesday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.71 and a 1-year high of $113.67. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 95.33 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.21.

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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given 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 yield of 0.06%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 5.83%.

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.