Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Receives $93.91 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.91.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEGA. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 5,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total transaction of $458,436.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,210. This trade represents a 24.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $80,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,772,818.33. The trade was a 2.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth about $436,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 25,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,567,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 88,554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,353,000 after acquiring an additional 7,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,968,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $105.79 on Wednesday. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $45.95 and a 12-month high of $106.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.34. The firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.22 and a beta of 1.09.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. Pegasystems’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

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

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.