Norges Bank Purchases New Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 475,787 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,343,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Summit Creek Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 122,806 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,446,000 after purchasing an additional 20,071 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $306,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,995 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 6,344 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,165,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 259.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 160,721 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,979,000 after buying an additional 115,962 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA opened at $63.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.67 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.59. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued 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 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PEGA. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554. Insiders own 50.10% 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.