Swiss National Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.10% of Pegasystems worth $6,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 309.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 130,281 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,422,000 after acquiring an additional 98,465 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Pegasystems by 2,166.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,589 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 23,504 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 15,120.0% in the second 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. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 207.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 21,203 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after buying an additional 14,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,149,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $96.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a PE ratio of 70.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.38. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.07 and a 1 year high of $96.68.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.12%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.90.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.88, for a total value of $698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 357,058 shares in the company, valued at $24,951,213.04. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $66,172.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142. The trade was a 99.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,595 shares of company stock worth $2,454,034. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

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.