Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Insider Selling

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $49.00 and last traded at $50.10, with a volume of 30059 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.06.

Specifically, CAO Domenic Lococo sold 5,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.99, for a total transaction of $292,301.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,821.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Domenic Lococo sold 5,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.99, for a total transaction of $292,301.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,821.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Yogesh K. Gupta sold 40,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $2,287,909.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 186,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,624,478.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,745 shares of company stock worth $5,376,231. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PRGS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Progress Software from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised Progress Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Progress Software in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progress Software currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.60.

Progress Software Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.34 and its 200 day moving average is $53.72.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 26th. The software maker reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. Progress Software had a return on equity of 36.62% and a net margin of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $184.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Progress Software Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progress Software Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Progress Software’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progress Software

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Progress Software by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 13,955 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,769 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Progress Software by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,107 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 9.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,761 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter.

Progress Software Company Profile

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.