Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stake Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,993 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Pegasystems by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 178,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,556,000 after purchasing an additional 80,495 shares in the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter worth about $453,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Pegasystems by 16,181.5% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 4,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BayBridge Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter worth about $432,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $75.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.23 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $113.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.16.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PEGA. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on 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 Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.36.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,542 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,746. Corporate insiders own 50.10% 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.