Seaport Global Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Seaport Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 83.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,200 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,935 shares during the quarter. Pegasystems comprises about 3.3% of Seaport Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Seaport Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter worth $67,968,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter worth about $22,784,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 266.8% during the 2nd 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,067,000 after acquiring an additional 250,273 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 752 shares in the company, valued at $54,211.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $70,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,505 shares in the company, valued at $3,535,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,203 shares of company stock worth $3,078,933 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PEGA. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Pegasystems Trading Down 0.9 %

Pegasystems stock opened at $72.21 on Monday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.66 and a 12-month high of $74.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.06 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.72 and a 200 day moving average of $62.93.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.30. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The firm had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

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.