Barclays Trims Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Target Price to $66.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $68.00 to $66.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $70.56.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $58.94 on Monday. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $37.66 and a 12 month high of $69.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.02 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 39.30%. Research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 16.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.39, for a total value of $633,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 379,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,066,520.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,549,875.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.39, for a total transaction of $633,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 379,658 shares in the company, valued at $24,066,520.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669. Corporate insiders own 50.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,497,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,979 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. 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.