Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $90.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the technology company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Pegasystems Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded up $1.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 531,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 553,396. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 68.98 and a beta of 1.09. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $44.07 and a 1-year high of $97.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.12.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.60, for a total value of $71,139.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,884 shares in the company, valued at $3,489,226.40. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PEGA. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 54.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,031 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,362,000 after buying an additional 49,433 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter worth about $325,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 819,282 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,895,000 after purchasing an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 40.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 17,198 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,503,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.