21,800 Shares in Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 21,800 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,184,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Progress Software as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Progress Software in the third quarter worth $40,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Progress Software in the third quarter worth $41,000. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in Progress Software in the third quarter worth $50,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Progress Software by 353.0% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 992 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Progress Software by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,231 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progress Software news, Director David Krall sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.00, for a total value of $1,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,418,691. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progress Software news, CFO Anthony Folger sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.31, for a total value of $429,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,367,703.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Krall sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.00, for a total value of $1,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,641 shares in the company, valued at $4,418,691. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 96,745 shares of company stock valued at $5,376,231. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Progress Software Price Performance

NASDAQ PRGS opened at $51.19 on Tuesday. Progress Software Co. has a one year low of $49.00 and a one year high of $62.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.95 and a 200 day moving average of $53.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 26th. The software maker reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. Progress Software had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $184.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Progress Software’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Progress Software Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Progress Software Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Progress Software’s payout ratio is 45.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PRGS shares. DA Davidson started coverage on Progress Software in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Progress Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Progress Software from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush raised their price target on Progress Software from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $64.60.

Progress Software Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.