Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

Several research firms recently weighed in on PEGA. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,748,176.22. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total transaction of $71,139.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,489,226.40. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,003 shares of company stock worth $1,346,086. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Pegasystems by 189.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546,281 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 398.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,505,000 after purchasing an additional 561,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,623,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $85.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.06 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given 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 dividend yield of 0.14%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

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.