Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.90.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PEGA shares. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Loop Capital raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $43,824.00. 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 932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $66,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142. This trade represents a 99.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,595 shares of company stock valued at $2,454,034 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,381,000 after purchasing an additional 283,508 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Pegasystems by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after purchasing an additional 250,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 4.2 %

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $95.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.58 and a beta of 1.06. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $44.07 and a 1 year high of $95.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.87 and a 200-day moving average of $68.13.

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

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

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.