Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 6,308 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,493 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,308 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PEGA. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 13,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.5% in 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 4.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,187 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total transaction of $70,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,505 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,417.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,067.50. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total transaction of $70,410.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,417.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,243,771. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PEGA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Pegasystems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Pegasystems Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $72.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.06 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.72 and its 200-day moving average is $62.94. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.66 and a 12-month high of $74.40.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.63%.

About Pegasystems

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.