Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Hits New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $98.00 and last traded at $96.50, with a volume of 38811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEGA shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.91.

Pegasystems Stock Up 6.6 %

The company has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.99 and a beta of 1.09. The company's fifty day moving average price is $93.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.12.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. Pegasystems's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 5,792 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $458,436.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,210. This represents a 24.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company's stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company's stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Pegasystems by 5.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 29.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

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.