State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stock Position in Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 53.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,892 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,145 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $2,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $231,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 70.0% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $4,154,000. Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $367,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $63.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53 and a beta of 1.08. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.84 and a 1-year high of $68.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.44.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $381.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $351.95 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 43.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is 8.05%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total transaction of $150,199.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,811.36. This represents a 19.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 4,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total transaction of $297,581.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 206 shares in the company, valued at $13,853.50. This trade represents a 95.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 207,600 shares of company stock valued at $12,232,922 in the last ninety days. 49.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEGA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.61.

Pegasystems 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.