Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Pegasystems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.90.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA traded up $0.07 on Friday, reaching $80.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,463,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,402. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $38.94 and a 1 year high of $82.22. The business's 50 day moving average is $70.20 and its 200 day moving average is $64.12. The stock has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.19 and a beta of 1.07.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. The business's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems's payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.17, for a total transaction of $73,170.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,263,060.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 1,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,263,060.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Jones sold 15,271 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total value of $1,057,516.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 371,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,746,249.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,955 shares of company stock worth $3,136,247. Insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 5.4% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,099 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% in 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 period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 2.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP raised its position in Pegasystems by 2.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 13,690 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.