Quest Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 306.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,709 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 83,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,462,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Pegasystems by 136.7% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 40,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after acquiring an additional 23,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $497,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,505 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,417.05. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $66,172.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142. This represents a 99.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,595 shares of company stock valued at $2,454,034. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $94.51 on Thursday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $97.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.03 and a 200 day moving average of $68.56. The company has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.99 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 8.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on PEGA shares. Loop Capital raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities raised Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.90.

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.