Sei Investments Co. Sells 48,716 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,174 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 48,716 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.19% of Pegasystems worth $14,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,542,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at $27,623,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Pegasystems by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 637,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,462,000 after acquiring an additional 153,703 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 468,393 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,654,000 after acquiring an additional 119,439 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 259.1% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 160,721 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,979,000 after purchasing an additional 115,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total value of $144,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 56,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,084,581.50. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. This trade represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 81,543 shares of company stock valued at $6,253,614 in the last 90 days. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of PEGA opened at $69.52 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 68.83 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.55 and a 12-month high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

Pegasystems 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.