Pegasystems Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.03 (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.03 per share by the technology company on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th.

Pegasystems has a dividend payout ratio of 3.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Pegasystems to earn $1.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.4%.

Pegasystems Stock Up 0.9 %

PEGA stock opened at $65.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.26. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $37.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 39.30% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. On average, research analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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. Barclays raised shares of Pegasystems from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,549,875.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at $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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $25,576.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,040 shares of company stock worth $2,605,991 in the last 90 days. 50.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at $1,054,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 79.9% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter worth about $1,059,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 55.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the first quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.