Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,846 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 8,452 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Progress Software worth $2,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 228.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 208,450 shares of the software maker's stock worth $13,581,000 after purchasing an additional 144,892 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progress Software during the fourth quarter worth $277,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progress Software in the 4th quarter valued at $9,699,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Progress Software in the 4th quarter valued at $376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Progress Software in the 4th quarter worth $278,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Progress Software from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Progress Software from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Progress Software in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Progress Software from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.33.

Insider Activity at Progress Software

In other news, CAO Domenic Lococo sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $56,240.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $242,000.72. This represents a 18.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Anthony Folger sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $844,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,508,953.20. This trade represents a 25.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,185 shares of company stock worth $1,024,193. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Progress Software Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:PRGS traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.00. 433,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 553,873. Progress Software Co. has a twelve month low of $48.00 and a twelve month high of $70.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.48.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 31st. The software maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $238.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.64 million. Progress Software had a return on equity of 41.56% and a net margin of 9.08%. Progress Software's revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Progress Software Co. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Progress Software Company Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.