Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Price

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $103.00 to $97.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PEGA. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

Pegasystems Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $85.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.29 and a 200-day moving average of $83.74. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $54.55 and a 1-year high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. On average, analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $211,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,003 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,086. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $57,000. 46.89% of the stock is 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.