Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,586 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,623,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 637,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,462,000 after buying an additional 153,703 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 440.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,770,000 after acquiring an additional 120,090 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Pegasystems by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 468,393 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,654,000 after acquiring an additional 119,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the third quarter valued at $6,096,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $72.89 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 72.17 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.00, for a total transaction of $188,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,547,804. This trade represents a 10.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 81,543 shares of company stock worth $6,253,614 over the last quarter. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEGA. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

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.