Pegasystems’ (PEGA) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $90.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TheStreet raised Pegasystems from a d+ rating to a c rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a buy rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $72.33.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $61.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.12. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.37 and a beta of 1.06. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $37.66 and a 1 year high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 45.00% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $25,576.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $25,576.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 1,504 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $95,955.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,005.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,781,669. 50.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 116.8% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,497,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 327,107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.