Foundry Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Foundry Partners LLC decreased its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 67.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 88,909 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $3,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Pegasystems by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $144,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,084,581.50. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 7,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $655,902.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,559.52. This trade represents a 34.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,791 shares of company stock valued at $6,134,554. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Down 7.3 %

NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $63.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.67 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.59. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

Pegasystems 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.