Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stake Lifted by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 298.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,540 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,132 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $2,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 107,824 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 28.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter worth $430,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 9.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,823 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $106.51 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.87. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.74 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.95 and a 1 year high of $107.18.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PEGA shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.91.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total transaction of $80,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,772,818.33. This trade represents a 2.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 8,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.23, for a total value of $673,234.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,172.28. This trade represents a 18.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems 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.