Barclays Cuts Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target to $97.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its target price cut by Barclays from $103.00 to $97.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on PEGA. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $85.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.97. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $54.55 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 62.06 and a beta of 1.11.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total value of $70,560.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,003 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,086 in the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.