Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,467 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,122 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth $66,542,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth $275,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Ironwood Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 41,543 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,872,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total value of $144,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,084,581.50. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $2,234,295.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,247,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,223,373,261.02. This trade represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,543 shares of company stock valued at $6,253,614 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Pegasystems stock opened at $75.77 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.66. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.55 and a 1 year high of $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.02 and a beta of 1.25.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. Equities analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.08%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.88%.

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.