Venturi Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $242,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 178,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,556,000 after buying an additional 80,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total value of $71,139.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,489,226.40. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $655,902.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,559.52. This trade represents a 34.86 % 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. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $78.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 77.60 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.08 and a 200 day moving average of $84.85. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 11.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on PEGA shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.36.

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.