Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PEGA. Loop Capital raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.90.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $80.03 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.12. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.19 and a beta of 1.07. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $38.94 and a 12 month high of $82.22.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,211.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,412 shares in the company, valued at $2,769,121.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,211.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,769,121.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.17, for a total transaction of $73,170.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,060.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,955 shares of company stock worth $3,136,247 over the last three months. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 15,120.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 64.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 633.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% 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.