Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. Pegasystems’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Pegasystems stock opened at $79.96 on Friday. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $37.66 and a fifty-two week high of $80.12. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.15 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.01.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total value of $1,057,516.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 371,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,746,249.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total value of $1,057,516.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 371,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,746,249.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,211.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,769,121.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,136,247. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PEGA shares. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

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.