SG Americas Securities LLC Invests $201,000 in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,109 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 119.1% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,142,547 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $172,796,000 after buying an additional 1,164,581 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth about $14,212,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 6.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,004,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $217,229,000 after acquiring an additional 310,242 shares in the last quarter. Scopia Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the third quarter worth about $10,195,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 208.7% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 238,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,344,000 after acquiring an additional 161,234 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEGA. TheStreet upgraded Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upgraded Pegasystems from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 12th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $25,576.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $25,576.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total value of $48,278.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,148. 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 90 days. 50.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $60.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.06 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.66 and a 1-year high of $69.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.66 and its 200-day moving average is $52.01.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 39.30% and a net margin of 4.73%. Equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business 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 yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.90%.

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.