Citigroup Increases Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target to $92.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $87.00 to $92.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Pegasystems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Pegasystems from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Pegasystems Trading Down 0.9 %

Pegasystems stock opened at $72.21 on Wednesday. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $37.66 and a 12 month high of $74.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.94. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.06 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. Pegasystems’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,211.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,769,121.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,211.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,769,121.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,243,771 over the last 90 days. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the second quarter valued at about $67,968,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,784,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Pegasystems by 266.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after buying an additional 284,095 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,381,000 after buying an additional 283,508 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Pegasystems by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after buying an additional 250,273 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.