Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Shares Bought by Abacus FCF Advisors LLC

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,361 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,068 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Pegasystems were worth $2,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546,281 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 398.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,505,000 after buying an additional 561,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction of $655,902.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,559.52. This represents a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.23. The company had a trading volume of 514,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 661,443. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.55 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $77.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.55. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $54.55 and a one year high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is 11.88%.

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.