Bank of Nova Scotia Takes Position in Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS)

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,286 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PRGS. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 123.2% during the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 953 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. TFO TDC LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progress Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 46.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progress Software during the third quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Progress Software during the fourth quarter valued at about $123,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PRGS shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Progress Software from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progress Software from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Progress Software from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Loren Jarrett sold 46,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.57, for a total transaction of $2,603,803.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,493.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles Francis Kane sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.34, for a total transaction of $1,086,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,704,629.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Loren Jarrett sold 46,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.57, for a total transaction of $2,603,803.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $563,493.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,037 shares of company stock valued at $3,914,127. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Progress Software Stock Performance

Shares of PRGS stock opened at $59.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.22 and its 200 day moving average is $54.58. Progress Software Co. has a 12 month low of $40.33 and a 12 month high of $60.43.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The software maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $165.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.77 million. Progress Software had a net margin of 15.82% and a return on equity of 41.56%. Progress Software’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Progress Software Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progress Software Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. Progress Software’s payout ratio is currently 31.39%.

About Progress Software

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Progress Software Corp. engages in the provision of products that develop and deploy mission-critical business applications. Its products and solutions include OpenEdge, Developer Tools, Sitefinity, Corticon, DataDirect Connect, MOVEit, Chef, WhatsUp Gold, Kemp Loadmaster, and Kemp Flowmon Network Visibility.