Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $106.31 and last traded at $105.44, with a volume of 85917 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $103.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEGA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.91.

Pegasystems Stock Up 2.4 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.34. The stock has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.31 and a beta of 1.09.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. Pegasystems’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 5,792 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total transaction of $458,436.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,210. This trade represents a 24.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total value of $70,560.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,006.59. This represents a 1.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Pegasystems by 266.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after acquiring an additional 284,095 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pegasystems by 104.5% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at about $9,567,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 440.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,770,000 after buying an additional 120,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter worth $6,688,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.