Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.27.

Pegasystems Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $68.34 on Thursday. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.66 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $144,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 56,534 shares in the company, valued at $4,084,581.50. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $655,902.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,225,559.52. The trade was a 34.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $220,347,000 after buying an additional 1,546,281 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Pegasystems by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 164,986 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,983,000 after acquiring an additional 6,480 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 807,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shannon River Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Shannon River Fund Management LLC now owns 798,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,407,000 after purchasing an additional 9,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.