Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

Several research analysts have recently commented on PEGA shares. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,528,043.58. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,542 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,746 in the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,347,000 after buying an additional 1,546,281 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth about $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 398.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,505,000 after buying an additional 561,807 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth about $27,623,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of PEGA opened at $79.33 on Thursday. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $113.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.17. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 78.54 and a beta of 1.11.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS 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, research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

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.