Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PEGA. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.90.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $81.07. 510,974 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 549,003. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.18 and a beta of 1.05. Pegasystems has a 52 week low of $44.00 and a 52 week high of $82.50.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The business had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 3,019 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,229,207.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 8,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.23, for a total value of $673,234.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,172.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.55, for a total transaction of $203,933.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,207.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,565 shares of company stock worth $2,998,565 over the last three months. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the second quarter worth approximately $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 266.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,381,000 after purchasing an additional 283,508 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,067,000 after acquiring an additional 250,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 77.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,273,000 after acquiring an additional 218,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.