Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $82.50 and last traded at $82.28, with a volume of 17182 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEGA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.90.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.50. The stock has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.55 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $66,172.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $142. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,093 shares of company stock worth $3,042,389 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased 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 worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 15,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 64.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. 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.