Raymond James & Associates Purchases 44,035 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 166.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 70,432 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,035 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Pegasystems were worth $5,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the second quarter valued at $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Pegasystems by 266.8% during the second 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Pegasystems by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after acquiring an additional 250,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,273,000 after buying an additional 218,599 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $81.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 59.38 and a beta of 1.07. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.00 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.92.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,772,818.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $80,070.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,772,818.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $53,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $142. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,277 shares of company stock valued at $2,325,331. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.90.

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.