Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $68.02 and last traded at $67.86, with a volume of 18163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Progress Software in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Progress Software from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Progress Software from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Progress Software from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progress Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Progress Software Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.56 and its 200 day moving average is $56.47.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The software maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.12. Progress Software had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 11.55%. The company had revenue of $178.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Progress Software’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Progress Software Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Progress Software

In other news, insider Ian Pitt sold 1,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.07, for a total transaction of $113,677.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,076.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Progress Software news, CFO Anthony Folger sold 7,797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.39, for a total transaction of $525,439.83. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,029.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ian Pitt sold 1,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.07, for a total value of $113,677.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,076.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progress Software

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leuthold Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Progress Software by 958.1% in the 3rd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 409,752 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,605,000 after acquiring an additional 371,026 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Progress Software by 144.2% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 474,447 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,743,000 after buying an additional 280,195 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Progress Software by 530.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 263,062 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $14,274,000 after acquiring an additional 221,336 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Progress Software by 10.9% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,966,696 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $106,713,000 after acquiring an additional 192,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 22.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 865,120 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $46,941,000 after acquiring an additional 156,796 shares in the last quarter.

About Progress Software

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.