Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $27.62 Million Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 296,385 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $27,623,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.35% of Pegasystems as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Pegasystems by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Pegasystems by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $139,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,481,838.75. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PEGA shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Pegasystems from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pegasystems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.27.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $68.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 67.66 and a beta of 1.22. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $74.78 and its 200-day moving average is $85.27.

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

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.88%.

Pegasystems 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.

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