Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 115,962 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA - Free Report) by 259.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,721 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 115,962 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.19% of Pegasystems worth $14,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,542,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 637,999 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,462,000 after purchasing an additional 153,703 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 468,393 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,654,000 after purchasing an additional 119,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 323,735 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,172,000 after buying an additional 36,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total transaction of $70,560.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $211,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,543 shares of company stock valued at $6,253,614. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PEGA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered Pegasystems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.36.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock traded down $1.32 on Wednesday, reaching $74.45. 499,366 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 618,045. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.71 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The firm's 50-day moving average is $89.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.66.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.08%. Pegasystems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.88%.

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.