Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV Acquires Shares of 2,870 Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,870 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the second quarter worth about $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PEGA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.91.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.00, for a total transaction of $188,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,547,804. The trade was a 10.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,819 shares of company stock worth $1,931,955. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.11. 823,113 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,283. The stock's 50-day moving average is $95.75 and its 200-day moving average is $79.42. Pegasystems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.95 and a fifty-two week high of $109.88. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.91 and a beta of 1.09.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems's payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

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.