Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on PEGA. TheStreet upgraded Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays upgraded Pegasystems from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Pegasystems Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $60.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.06 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $37.66 and a 12-month high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 39.30% and a net margin of 4.73%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 1,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total value of $95,955.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,005.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 1,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total value of $95,955.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,005.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,549,875.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,781,669. 50.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Pegasystems by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Pegasystems by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Pegasystems by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,846 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Pegasystems by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,490 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Pegasystems by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 18,319 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.