Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

PEGA has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.90.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

PEGA opened at $89.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.25 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.52 and a 200-day moving average of $66.14. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $89.61.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Pegasystems’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 8,288 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.23, for a total value of $673,234.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,172.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,093 shares of company stock valued at $3,042,389 in the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the first quarter worth approximately $758,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 0.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 82,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,333,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 64.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 26.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 91,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,919,000 after buying an additional 19,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 6.1% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 49,541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by 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.