US Bancorp DE Trims Stock Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

US Bancorp DE decreased its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,575 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 517 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $426,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 49.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on PEGA shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,342 shares of company stock valued at $3,903,792. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $72.84 on Thursday. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.34. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.12 and a beta of 1.25.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted 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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given 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 dividend yield of 0.16%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is presently 11.88%.

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.