Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $75.58 and last traded at $75.40, with a volume of 66658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.60.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.74. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.66 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $70,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,535,350. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $70,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,505 shares in the company, valued at $3,535,350. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.55, for a total value of $203,933.45. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,229,207.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,206,247 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Pegasystems by 15,120.0% in 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 633.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the second quarter valued at $104,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.