Luxor Capital Group LP Reduces Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Luxor Capital Group LP decreased its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 339,869 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 344,070 shares during the period. Pegasystems comprises 1.6% of Luxor Capital Group LP's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Luxor Capital Group LP owned about 0.40% of Pegasystems worth $24,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEGA. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% during the 2nd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PEGA shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total value of $43,824.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total transaction of $54,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,763,936. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,415 shares of company stock worth $1,667,761. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pegasystems Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA traded down $2.32 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.96. 253,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 540,248. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 71.01 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $82.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.24. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $44.07 and a one year high of $97.94.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The company had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $326.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Pegasystems's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.76%.

Pegasystems 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.