Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Bought by Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $76.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.10 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $54.55 and a one year high of $113.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.11.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. Analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.67, for a total transaction of $586,954.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,542 shares of company stock worth $4,490,746 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PEGA. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their target price on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

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.