Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS – Get Rating) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.20.

PRGS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Progress Software from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. StockNews.com lowered Progress Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Progress Software from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progress Software from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th.

Insider Transactions at Progress Software

In other news, EVP Loren Jarrett sold 46,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.57, for a total value of $2,603,803.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $563,493.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles Francis Kane sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.34, for a total transaction of $1,086,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,704,629.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Loren Jarrett sold 46,028 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.57, for a total value of $2,603,803.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $563,493.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,037 shares of company stock valued at $3,914,127 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progress Software

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRGS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progress Software by 285.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,050,744 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $60,365,000 after buying an additional 778,377 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP purchased a new stake in Progress Software during the first quarter valued at approximately $23,911,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progress Software during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,040,000. Natixis raised its position in Progress Software by 102.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 730,000 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $36,828,000 after purchasing an additional 370,000 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 25.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,236,034 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $58,204,000 after buying an additional 250,733 shares during the period.

Progress Software Trading Up 1.0 %

PRGS opened at $55.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.11 and a 200-day moving average of $54.11. Progress Software has a 52 week low of $40.33 and a 52 week high of $59.36.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $165.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.77 million. Progress Software had a return on equity of 41.56% and a net margin of 15.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Progress Software will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progress Software Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. Progress Software’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.39%.

Progress Software Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Progress Software Corp. engages in the provision of products that develop and deploy mission-critical business applications. Its products and solutions include OpenEdge, Developer Tools, Sitefinity, Corticon, DataDirect Connect, MOVEit, Chef, WhatsUp Gold, Kemp Loadmaster, and Kemp Flowmon Network Visibility.