Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 149.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,056 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,806 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter worth $67,968,000. Luxor Capital Group LP increased its position in Pegasystems by 7.9% during the second quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 683,939 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,399,000 after acquiring an additional 49,861 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,381,000 after acquiring an additional 283,508 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 6.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 533,948 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,304,000 after acquiring an additional 34,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 284,095 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $95.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.72 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.07 and a 1 year high of $97.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.52.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on PEGA shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total transaction of $80,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,772,818.33. The trade was a 2.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total value of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,415 shares of company stock valued at $1,667,761. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

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.