Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Short Interest Up 26.8% in February

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the January 31st total of 1,230,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 749,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA traded down $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,246,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,812. The stock has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.23 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems has a one year low of $54.55 and a one year high of $113.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.40.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total transaction of $156,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,077,937.15. This trade represents a 12.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,542 shares of company stock worth $4,490,746. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 189.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,242 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546,281 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 860,361 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 164,986 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 825,762 shares of the technology company's stock worth $76,983,000 after acquiring an additional 6,480 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 807,671 shares of the technology company's stock worth $75,275,000 after acquiring an additional 4,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shannon River Fund Management LLC raised its position in Pegasystems by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Shannon River Fund Management LLC now owns 798,356 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,407,000 after purchasing an additional 9,989 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.36.

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.