Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA stock opened at $70.42 on Thursday. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $54.55 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.72 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.42.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.88%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,342 shares of company stock valued at $3,903,792. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently 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.