Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Acquired by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 83,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $6,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,462,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 136.7% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 40,066 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,928,000 after purchasing an additional 23,141 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $497,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 49.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. William Blair raised Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.90.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total value of $70,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,417.05. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,595 shares of company stock worth $2,454,034 in the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $96.45 on Wednesday. Pegasystems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.07 and a fifty-two week high of $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a PE ratio of 70.40 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.38.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

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