Advisory Services Network LLC Purchases New Shares in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,005 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company's stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 448.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the technology company's stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.27.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,528,043.58. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,234,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,247,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,373,261.02. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock valued at $6,134,554. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $68.34 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.27. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.66 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems's payout ratio is presently 11.88%.

Pegasystems 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PEGA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.