Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Trading 6.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) rose 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. Approximately 268,495 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 485,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.08.

PEGA has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet raised shares of Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pegasystems news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $48,278.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $48,278.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,148. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669. 50.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PEGA. CWM LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 80.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the third quarter valued at about $469,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Pegasystems by 14.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter worth about $2,133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 4.6 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.12. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 53.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio 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.