Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases Shares of 2,365 Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,365 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Pegasystems by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $273,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 4.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $467,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Pegasystems by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 17,198 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 4,988 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 13.2 %

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $70.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.99 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.55 and a 12-month high of $113.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.53.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its 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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 2,049 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total value of $155,006.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,019 shares in the company, valued at $3,935,237.35. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $211,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,528,043.58. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock valued at $6,134,554. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.36.

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.