Inspire Investing LLC Boosts Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 298.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,540 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 19,132 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% during the 2nd 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 grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 104.5% during 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,567,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 440.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,770,000 after purchasing an additional 120,090 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,688,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PEGA shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.91.

Pegasystems Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PEGA opened at $106.51 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.87. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.95 and a 52-week high of $107.18. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. Pegasystems’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In related news, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $43,824.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $80,070.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,772,818.33. The trade was a 2.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

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.