Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Price Up 6.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)’s stock price shot up 6.6% on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $69.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Pegasystems traded as high as $63.18 and last traded at $62.95. 268,495 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 485,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.08.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet upgraded Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $25,576.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $1,301,681.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,549,875.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $25,576.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669. Insiders own 50.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 219.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.23 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $62.90 and its 200 day moving average is $52.99.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 53.49% and a net margin of 5.32%. Analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.63%.

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.