Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Lifted to “Buy” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $84.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $68.00.

PEGA has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities raised Pegasystems from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.60.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA opened at $67.03 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.74 and a beta of 1.08. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $37.66 and a 1 year high of $72.74.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sharon T. Rowlands bought 8,600 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.63 per share, with a total value of $504,218.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,809,966.73. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sharon T. Rowlands bought 8,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.63 per share, for a total transaction of $504,218.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,809,966.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $54,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,211.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,254 shares of company stock worth $403,117. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEGA. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth $85,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Pegasystems by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Pegasystems by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 946,109 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,227,000 after acquiring an additional 31,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Pegasystems by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,820 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.