Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $325,000 Investment in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 4,448 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 49.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Down 1.2 %

Pegasystems stock opened at $94.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.89. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 68.95 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.07 and a twelve month high of $97.94.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 8.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEGA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total transaction of $54,144.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,763,936. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,914 shares of company stock worth $2,283,688 in the last quarter. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.