Rifat Kerim Akgonul Sells 2,000 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total value of $144,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,084,581.50. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Pegasystems Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA traded down $4.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $68.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,324,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,469. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.47 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.34. Pegasystems Inc. has a one year low of $54.55 and a one year high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 49.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.