Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 10,806 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 149.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,056 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,806 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Pegasystems by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 29.9% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the second quarter worth $104,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pegasystems Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of PEGA traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $97.13. The stock had a trading volume of 488,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,795. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.71. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.07 and a 12 month high of $97.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.90 and a beta of 1.09.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.17, for a total value of $73,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,263,060.54. This represents a 5.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total value of $54,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,763,936. The trade was a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,415 shares of company stock worth $1,667,761 in the last quarter. 50.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEGA has been the topic of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.