Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 1,024 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,080 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pegasystems by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 448.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $139,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.75. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,791 shares of company stock valued at $6,134,554. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.18.

Pegasystems Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $68.01 on Thursday. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.34 and a beta of 1.22.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.88%.

Pegasystems 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.