Brokerages Set Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Target Price at $95.82

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.36.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $85.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.06 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.87. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results 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 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is 8.76%.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $211,260.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,528,043.58. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,003 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,086. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Pegasystems by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.