Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $106.31 and last traded at $105.44, with a volume of 85917 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $103.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEGA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.91.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.31 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.34.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.67, for a total value of $586,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,176.22. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,914 shares of company stock worth $2,414,935 in the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at $104,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.