Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $51.51, but opened at $54.50. Progress Software shares last traded at $55.80, with a volume of 442,872 shares traded.

The software maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.27. Progress Software had a return on equity of 41.56% and a net margin of 9.08%. The company had revenue of $238.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Progress Software’s revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRGS has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Progress Software from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Progress Software from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.17.

Insider Activity at Progress Software

In other Progress Software news, insider Ian Pitt sold 1,482 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.60, for a total value of $83,881.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $430,895.80. This trade represents a 16.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Anthony Folger sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $844,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,564 shares in the company, valued at $2,508,953.20. This represents a 25.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,482 shares of company stock valued at $984,621. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progress Software

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Progress Software by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,855,525 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $381,487,000 after buying an additional 45,246 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 45,918.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,143,110 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $74,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,626 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Progress Software by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,045,240 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $70,418,000 after acquiring an additional 43,936 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Progress Software by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,411 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $66,039,000 after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Progress Software by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,523 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $52,284,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474 shares during the last quarter.

Progress Software Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.48, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Progress Software Company Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.