BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 31,639 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 259.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 43,846 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,639 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Pegasystems were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Pegasystems by 219.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $59.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.85. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.66 and a 52-week high of $69.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 73.09 and a beta of 1.05.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $330.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.70 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 45.00%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.43, for a total value of $132,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Pegasystems news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $48,278.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.43, for a total value of $132,860.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,504 shares of company stock worth $1,083,494. 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.