Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $90.00 to $115.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 21.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PEGA. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $94.50 on Friday. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $44.07 and a 1 year high of $97.94. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.98 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.18 and a 200 day moving average of $75.12.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total value of $70,560.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,006.59. The trade was a 1.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,772,818.33. This trade represents a 2.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,914 shares of company stock worth $2,414,935 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.