Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,219 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,250 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $4,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,281 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,983,000 after buying an additional 6,480 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 398.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,505,000 after buying an additional 561,807 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 637,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,462,000 after acquiring an additional 153,703 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $91.69 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 90.78 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.71 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 5.83%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.90, for a total transaction of $59,154.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,900. This trade represents a 39.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $354,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 52,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,667,062.40. This represents a 7.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,949 shares of company stock worth $8,703,263. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PEGA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.27.

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.