Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.20 EPS

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20), Zacks reports. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%.

Pegasystems Stock Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,526,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,426. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.44 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $47.82 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PEGA shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.64.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,528,043.58. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,003 shares of company stock worth $1,346,086. Company insiders own 50.10% 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.