Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.60.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PEGA shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $66,172.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Richard H. Jones sold 10,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.88, for a total value of $698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 357,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,951,213.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $66,172.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,955 shares of company stock valued at $3,303,771. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,968,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,784,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 284,095 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 554,777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,381,000 after purchasing an additional 283,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $347,067,000 after purchasing an additional 250,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 0.2 %

PEGA opened at $67.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.24 and a beta of 1.07. Pegasystems has a 12-month low of $37.66 and a 12-month high of $72.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.57.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its 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. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 49.62%. The company had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.41) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

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.