Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Holdings Increased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 40.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,002 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,751 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $635,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. CWM LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 80.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Pegasystems during the third quarter valued at approximately $114,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Pegasystems by 11.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,035 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet raised shares of Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.34, for a total transaction of $45,375.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,364,603.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $25,576.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.34, for a total value of $45,375.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,364,603.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,544 shares of company stock valued at $3,435,845. 50.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pegasystems Trading Up 2.0 %

PEGA opened at $60.61 on Thursday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.66 and a 1-year high of $69.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 73.91 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 45.00%. The business had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. On average, research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

Pegasystems Company Profile

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.