Pegasystems’ (PEGA) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $90.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

PEGA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Pegasystems from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised shares of Pegasystems from a d+ rating to a c rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Pegasystems Trading Down 1.9 %

PEGA opened at $62.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 87.34 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.19 and a 200-day moving average of $51.81. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $37.66 and a twelve month high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 39.30%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 16.90%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $48,278.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $48,278.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $1,301,681.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,549,875.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,781,669 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 50.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the first quarter worth about $1,054,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 79.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the first quarter worth about $1,059,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 55.5% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the first quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.