Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Citigroup from $99.00 to $123.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 27.55% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PEGA. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Pegasystems Stock Down 0.2 %

Pegasystems stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.43. 29,036 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,867. The company has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a PE ratio of 70.39 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.88 and a 200 day moving average of $72.04. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $97.94.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The business had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.67, for a total transaction of $586,954.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,748,176.22. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,914 shares of company stock worth $2,283,688 over the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 266.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,381,000 after purchasing an additional 283,508 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,567,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,599,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.