Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Short Interest Update

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, a growth of 42.1% from the August 15th total of 935,800 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 618,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,277.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,164 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,064.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,067.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 752 shares in the company, valued at $54,211.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total value of $45,277.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,164 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,064.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,955 shares of company stock worth $3,303,771. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 5.0% during the second quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 2.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 2.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 13,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.60.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PEGA traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $67.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 443,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,617. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.24 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.80 and a 200-day moving average of $62.57. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $37.66 and a 52-week high of $72.74.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. Pegasystems’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.