Pegasystems Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.02 (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.015 per share by the technology company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st.

Pegasystems has a payout ratio of 3.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Pegasystems to earn $2.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.6%.

Pegasystems Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of PEGA traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.52. The company had a trading volume of 609,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,493. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.80 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $54.55 and a 52-week high of $113.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.49.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total value of $70,560.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.00, for a total value of $188,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,547,804. The trade was a 10.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,543 shares of company stock worth $6,253,614. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Company 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.