Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

PEGA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.60.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEGA traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.08. The stock had a trading volume of 501,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,623. The stock has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.90 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.47 and a 200 day moving average of $63.24. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $37.66 and a 52-week high of $74.40.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. Pegasystems’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $70,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,505 shares in the company, valued at $3,535,350. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,955 shares of company stock worth $3,206,247 over the last three months. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 15,120.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 633.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.