Range Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 3,229 Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,229 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at $22,784,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 6.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,004,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $217,229,000 after purchasing an additional 310,242 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,958,000. Scopia Capital Management LP bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,195,000. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Pegasystems by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,471 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,561,000 after acquiring an additional 143,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $59.28 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.09. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.29 and a beta of 1.05. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.66 and a 12 month high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Pegasystems had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 45.00%. The firm had revenue of $330.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.70 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 14.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PEGA. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $48,278.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $127,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,585,110.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $48,278.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,148. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,504 shares of company stock valued at $950,634. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

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.