Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stake Increased by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 637,999 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 153,703 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.74% of Pegasystems worth $59,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth about $436,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Pegasystems by 110.0% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 25,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,567,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 16,230 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 4,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 88,554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,353,000 after acquiring an additional 7,947 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEGA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. This trade represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total value of $71,139.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,489,226.40. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 53,245 shares of company stock worth $4,439,459. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pegasystems Trading Up 2.8 %

PEGA opened at $78.51 on Friday. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 77.73 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.12 and its 200-day moving average is $84.97.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Pegasystems 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.