Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Trading 6.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) traded up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $69.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Pegasystems traded as high as $63.18 and last traded at $62.95. 268,495 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 485,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.08.

Several other research firms have also commented on PEGA. TheStreet raised shares of Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 2.0% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,810 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,846 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 219.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 75.37 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.19.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 45.00% and a net margin of 5.32%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.63%.

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.