Pegasystems’ (PEGA) “Market Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market outperform rating on shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $110.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $82.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

Pegasystems Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $85.02 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $99.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.87. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 62.06 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total transaction of $71,139.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,884 shares in the company, valued at $3,489,226.40. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,003 shares of company stock worth $1,346,086. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $220,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546,281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Pegasystems by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after purchasing an additional 164,986 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,983,000 after purchasing an additional 6,480 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 807,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shannon River Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Shannon River Fund Management LLC now owns 798,356 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,407,000 after buying an additional 9,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.