Barclays Boosts Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target to $69.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet upgraded Pegasystems from a d+ rating to a c rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $72.33.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $61.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.37 and a beta of 1.06. Pegasystems has a one year low of $37.66 and a one year high of $69.26.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 45.00% and a net margin of 5.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.39, for a total transaction of $633,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 379,658 shares in the company, valued at $24,066,520.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Pegasystems news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $24,066,520.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $25,576.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669 over the last ninety days. 50.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 2.0% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,810 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,846 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 219.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.