Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Hits New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PEGA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.91.

Pegasystems Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.39 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.76.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total transaction of $80,070.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,772,818.33. This represents a 2.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total value of $28,973.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,914 shares of company stock worth $2,414,935 over the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,968,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 819,282 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,895,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Luxor Capital Group LP now owns 683,939 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,399,000 after acquiring an additional 49,861 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,381,000 after acquiring an additional 283,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 484,296 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.