Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stake Lifted by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 49.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 656 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 15,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 64.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Pegasystems in the third quarter worth about $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 633.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA stock opened at $86.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.65. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.07 and a 52 week high of $91.54. The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.18 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total transaction of $70,410.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,505 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,417.05. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.88, for a total transaction of $698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 357,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,951,213.04. The trade was a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,093 shares of company stock valued at $3,042,389 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEGA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Loop Capital raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.90.

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.