Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $77.00 to $90.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PEGA. Barclays increased their price target on Pegasystems from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $79.86.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $66.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.56 and a beta of 1.08. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $37.66 and a 1-year high of $71.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.82.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.55 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.34, for a total transaction of $45,375.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,364,603.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Pegasystems news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.34, for a total value of $45,375.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,603.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total transaction of $120,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,381,964.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,504 shares of company stock worth $1,069,794 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Bares Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,862,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $286,434,000 after acquiring an additional 90,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,067,000 after purchasing an additional 250,273 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Pegasystems by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 946,109 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,227,000 after purchasing an additional 31,925 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Pegasystems by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 625,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,561,000 after buying an additional 143,986 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 77.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,273,000 after buying an additional 218,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.