Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Chairman Sells $2,234,295.00 in Stock

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,234,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,247,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,373,261.02. This trade represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Alan Trefler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 25th, Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00.

Pegasystems Trading Down 6.5 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded down $4.70 on Thursday, hitting $68.14. 1,324,125 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 607,469. The company has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.47 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.06 and a 200 day moving average of $85.34. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 110.0% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 25,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at about $497,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 83,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

About Pegasystems

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.