Analysts Set Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target at $82.60

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.60.

PEGA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, July 29th. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $66.35 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 80.92 and a beta of 1.07. Pegasystems has a one year low of $37.66 and a one year high of $72.74.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,057,516.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 371,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,746,249.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,057,516.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 371,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,746,249.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,955 shares of company stock worth $3,303,771. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems in the second quarter worth $378,000. Seaport Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 83.9% in the 2nd quarter. Seaport Global Advisors LLC now owns 15,200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 6,935 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 43,790 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,651,000 after acquiring an additional 12,269 shares in the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP lifted its position in Pegasystems by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 683,939 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,399,000 after acquiring an additional 49,861 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 124.6% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 97,427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,897,000 after acquiring an additional 54,058 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.