Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PEGA. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Rosenblatt Securities increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $78.17 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.45 and a 200-day moving average of $84.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 77.40 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $54.55 and a 12 month high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction of $655,902.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,225,559.52. This trade represents a 34.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total transaction of $70,560.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,745 shares of company stock worth $2,001,989. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Castleark Management LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 95,630 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,913,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 132,070 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,309,000 after acquiring an additional 21,535 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 70.6% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 2,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in Pegasystems by 117.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 13,766 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 7,426 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.