Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Short Interest Up 66.7% in December

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, a growth of 66.7% from the November 30th total of 654,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 504,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.67, for a total value of $586,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,176.22. This represents a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,688 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock traded down $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 260,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 532,628. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.26 and a 200-day moving average of $73.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.95 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $44.07 and a twelve month high of $97.94.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. Pegasystems’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 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.