Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target Raised to $75.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price target hoisted by Wedbush from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.61.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $66.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.48 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.68. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $29.84 and a 1-year high of $67.19.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $381.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.95 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 43.49%. Pegasystems’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is 8.05%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.97, for a total transaction of $227,880.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 70,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,028,747.49. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.73, for a total transaction of $2,552,850.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 44,979,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,551,679,319.72. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,728 shares of company stock worth $9,625,920 over the last 90 days. 49.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 139.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 274.2% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 50.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 902.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.