Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 756 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 15,120.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 761 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PEGA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,784,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,369,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,067,000 after acquiring an additional 250,273 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,958,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 77.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 499,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,273,000 after acquiring an additional 218,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 143,986 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Pegasystems stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 730,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,455. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.88. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.66 and a 52-week high of $72.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.84 and a beta of 1.08.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.30. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 49.62% and a net margin of 8.72%. The company had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.55 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.41) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Loop Capital upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, William Blair upgraded Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, Director Sharon T. Rowlands acquired 8,600 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.63 per share, for a total transaction of $504,218.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,809,966.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sharon T. Rowlands acquired 8,600 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.63 per share, for a total transaction of $504,218.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,809,966.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $54,211.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,769,121.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,525 shares of company stock worth $1,668,804. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.