296,385 Shares in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 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.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Pegasystems by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,394 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 448.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 637,999 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,462,000 after buying an additional 153,703 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company's stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 5.7 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded up $3.85 on Friday, hitting $71.99. 1,204,381 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 609,830. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.55 and a 1-year high of $113.67. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $92.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 71.28 and a beta of 1.25.

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Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PEGA. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 299 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.90, for a total transaction of $28,973.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $211,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,842 shares of company stock valued at $6,282,587 in the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.