Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.00.

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEGA. Barclays boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Pegasystems Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $95.24 on Friday. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $44.07 and a twelve month high of $97.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.52 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.60.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 8,288 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.23, for a total value of $673,234.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,172.28. This represents a 18.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,688. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter worth $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,567,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,599,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.