Brokerages Set Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target at $99.36

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEGA shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com cut Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $72.84 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.06 and its 200-day moving average is $85.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 72.12 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted 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 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. As a group, analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total transaction of $70,560.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,006.59. This trade represents a 1.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total value of $156,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,077,937.15. This represents a 12.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,342 shares of company stock valued at $3,903,792 over the last 90 days. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $668,000. Castleark Management LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 95,630 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,913,000 after buying an additional 12,220 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 132,070 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,309,000 after buying an additional 21,535 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,843,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 2,995 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.