Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Short Interest Up 26.8% in February

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the January 31st total of 1,230,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 749,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,748,176.22. This represents a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,542 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,746 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $604,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,099 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 19.4% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $436,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEGA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.36.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock traded down $1.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $77.57. The company had a trading volume of 344,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,482. The company has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 76.64 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.11 and a 200 day moving average of $85.17. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $54.55 and a 12 month high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. Analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

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.