Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEGA. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total value of $156,620.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,077,937.15. This trade represents a 12.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total transaction of $70,560.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,542 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,746. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth $436,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 25,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth $9,567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $79.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.54 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.17. Pegasystems has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. 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 is currently 11.88%.

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.