SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New $201,000 Investment in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,109 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the first quarter worth $45,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 80.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Pegasystems by 109.8% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the first quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the third quarter worth $67,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $48,278.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $48,278.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,549,875.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669 in the last quarter. 50.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PEGA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised Pegasystems from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Pegasystems from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Pegasystems Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $60.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.01. Pegasystems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.06 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 39.30% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.76 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.90%.

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.