Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Sets New 52-Week Low After Insider Selling

Shares of Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $49.00 and last traded at $50.10, with a volume of 30059 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.06.

Specifically, CAO Domenic Lococo sold 4,503 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $256,671.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,900 shares in the company, valued at $165,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Yogesh K. Gupta sold 40,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,287,909.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,624,478.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Domenic Lococo sold 4,503 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $256,671.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,248 shares of company stock valued at $5,632,902. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PRGS. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Progress Software from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised Progress Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Progress Software from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Progress Software in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.60.

Progress Software Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.76.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 26th. The software maker reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $184.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.91 million. Progress Software had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 9.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Progress Software Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Progress Software Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Progress Software’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progress Software

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progress Software by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management raised its stake in Progress Software by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 13,955 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Progress Software by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,769 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Progress Software by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,107 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Progress Software by 9.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,761 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter.

Progress Software Company Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.