Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis Sells 303 Shares

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $24,543.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $79.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.99 and a beta of 1.07. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.73 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.44 and its 200-day moving average is $64.76.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the second quarter valued at $67,968,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 266.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after acquiring an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 104.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,381,000 after purchasing an additional 283,508 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,067,000 after buying an additional 250,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,273,000 after purchasing an additional 218,599 shares during the period. 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.