EAM Investors LLC Acquires Shares of 50,125 Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

EAM Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 50,125 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,672,000. EAM Investors LLC owned about 0.06% of Pegasystems as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth about $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 398.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,505,000 after purchasing an additional 561,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,343,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEGA. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.27.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total value of $144,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,084,581.50. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PEGA traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 671,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 666,736. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.66 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.55 and a 1-year high of $113.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.25.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.015 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.