Barclays PLC Lowers Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Barclays PLC decreased its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,469 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 14,685 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.06% of Pegasystems worth $3,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PEGA. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems during the second quarter valued at $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $23,641,000 after buying an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 104.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,381,000 after acquiring an additional 283,508 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,567,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter worth $7,599,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Trading Down 0.9 %

PEGA traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.40. 306,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 536,673. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $87.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.91 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $97.94.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,763,936. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $80,070.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,119 shares in the company, valued at $3,772,818.33. This trade represents a 2.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,283,688. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PEGA shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.00.

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.