Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PEGA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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, JMP Securities upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.90.

Pegasystems Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of PEGA stock traded up $2.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $89.58. 261,097 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 543,446. Pegasystems has a 52-week low of $44.07 and a 52-week high of $91.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.38 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. Pegasystems’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 4,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $331,171.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 367,058 shares in the company, valued at $25,705,071.74. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total value of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,074 shares of company stock worth $2,838,456. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 5.0% in the second quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Pegasystems by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,099 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 49.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 29.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.