Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $235,000 Stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,876 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Pegasystems by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 64.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 2.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 13,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 0.5% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 82,500 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,333,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 4.0% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,187 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Up 1.0 %

PEGA stock opened at $67.29 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.56. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.66 and a 12 month high of $72.74. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.06 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.55 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PEGA. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.60.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,057,516.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 371,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,746,249.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Pegasystems news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,057,516.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 371,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,746,249.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,067.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,211.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,955 shares of company stock worth $3,303,771 in the last quarter. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.