Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.60.

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRGS. Wedbush boosted their price target on Progress Software from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Progress Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Progress Software from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th.

Progress Software Trading Down 0.3 %

PRGS stock opened at $50.59 on Friday. Progress Software has a 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week high of $62.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.94.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The software maker reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $184.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Progress Software will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Progress Software Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Progress Software’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.45%.

Insider Transactions at Progress Software

In other news, EVP Sundar Subramanian sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.38, for a total transaction of $142,015.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,216,341.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Progress Software news, EVP Sundar Subramanian sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.38, for a total value of $142,015.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,216,341.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Anthony Folger sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $430,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,126,810.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,745 shares of company stock valued at $5,376,231 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progress Software

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progress Software by 116.4% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 61,121 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 32,871 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Progress Software by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,701,094 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $92,369,000 after buying an additional 33,289 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Progress Software by 197.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 132,827 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,213,000 after buying an additional 88,175 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Progress Software by 8.0% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 387,313 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $20,365,000 after purchasing an additional 28,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Progress Software in the 3rd quarter worth $2,473,000.

About Progress Software

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.