Short Interest in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Decreases By 45.5%

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 719,700 shares, a drop of 45.5% from the October 31st total of 1,320,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 576,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $94.51. The company had a trading volume of 485,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,513. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $97.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.56. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 68.99 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total transaction of $70,410.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,417.05. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.88, for a total transaction of $698,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 357,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,951,213.04. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,595 shares of company stock worth $2,454,034 over the last ninety days. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,362,000 after purchasing an additional 49,433 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $325,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pegasystems by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 819,282 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,895,000 after acquiring an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 17,198 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,503,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEGA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.90.

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.