Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target Increased to $69.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pegasystems from a d+ rating to a c rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a neutral rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Monday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $72.33.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Pegasystems stock opened at $61.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.12. Pegasystems has a fifty-two week low of $37.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 45.00%. The business had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. As a group, analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,549,875.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $1,301,681.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,549,875.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.39, for a total transaction of $633,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 379,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,066,520.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 50.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 80.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Pegasystems by 219.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in Pegasystems by 80.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.