Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 935,800 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the July 31st total of 1,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 600,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PEGA. Loop Capital upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.60.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,211.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sharon T. Rowlands acquired 8,600 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.63 per share, with a total value of $504,218.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,809,966.73. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,023 shares of company stock valued at $2,257,159 in the last 90 days. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 80.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 15,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Pegasystems by 633.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $104,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded up $0.59 on Friday, reaching $70.88. 869,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,076. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $37.66 and a fifty-two week high of $72.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.44 and a beta of 1.08.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

About Pegasystems

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.