Fiera Capital Corp Acquires 588,066 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA

Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 218.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 857,265 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 588,066 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned approximately 0.50% of Pegasystems worth $46,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 120.6% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 52,997 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,869,000 after acquiring an additional 28,972 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 107.6% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 33,219 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 17,215 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 104.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,779,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $96,316,000 after purchasing an additional 907,226 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 111.6% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 3,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter worth $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 4,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total transaction of $297,581.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,853.50. This trade represents a 95.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 14,865 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $942,441.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 118,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,531,856.60. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 203,895 shares of company stock valued at $12,179,202. 49.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PEGA. Weiss Ratings cut Pegasystems from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Pegasystems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.61.

Pegasystems Trading Down 1.4%

Pegasystems stock opened at $59.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.77 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.78 and a 200-day moving average of $54.07. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.84 and a 1 year high of $68.10.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.05%.

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.