The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Price Target to $78.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

PEGA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays increased their target price on Pegasystems from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $79.86.

Pegasystems Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEGA opened at $65.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.40 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.13. Pegasystems has a 1-year low of $37.66 and a 1-year high of $71.27.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $120,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,381,964.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $120,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,884 shares in the company, valued at $1,381,964.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sharon T. Rowlands purchased 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,752 shares of company stock valued at $415,618. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 219.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 15,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.