Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Sets New 12-Month High at $73.16

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $73.16 and last traded at $73.02, with a volume of 9162 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PEGA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.60.

Pegasystems Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.95 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,211.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $70,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,535,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,955 shares of company stock worth $3,243,771. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 15,120.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 64.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 633.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $104,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.