Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as low as $48.00 and last traded at $52.18, with a volume of 310856 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.70.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Progress Software from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Progress Software from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progress Software has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.14.

Insider Transactions at Progress Software

In related news, CFO Anthony Folger sold 3,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total transaction of $190,233.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,895,871. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progress Software news, CFO Anthony Folger sold 3,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.50, for a total value of $190,233.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,895,871. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Yufan Stephanie Wang sold 779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.67, for a total transaction of $39,471.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,761 shares of company stock worth $2,841,941. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progress Software

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progress Software in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $330,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Progress Software by 10.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 104,671 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,504,000 after acquiring an additional 10,155 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Progress Software during the 3rd quarter worth $626,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Progress Software during the third quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Progress Software by 305.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 47,458 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 35,755 shares during the period.

Progress Software Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.00.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 26th. The software maker reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. Progress Software had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $184.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Progress Software Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Progress Software Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Progress Software’s payout ratio is 42.68%.

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.