Insider Selling: Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) CAO Sells $261,541.50 in Stock

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) CAO Efstathios Kouninis sold 3,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total value of $261,541.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,493. This represents a 95.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $63.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.44. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.84 and a 52 week high of $68.10.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $381.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.95 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 43.49% and a net margin of 16.05%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Pegasystems from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Pegasystems from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 50.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Pegasystems in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 70.2% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,433 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.