Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 4,600 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,824 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.13% of Pegasystems worth $6,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth about $22,784,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after buying an additional 250,273 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 77.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,273,000 after buying an additional 218,599 shares during the period. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,561,000 after buying an additional 143,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $73.36 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.93 and a 200 day moving average of $62.75. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.66 and a 1 year high of $74.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.78, for a total value of $119,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,326,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.78, for a total value of $119,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,326,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 752 shares in the company, valued at $54,211.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,243,771 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

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.