AtonRa Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

AtonRa Partners lessened its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,341 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. AtonRa Partners’ holdings in Pegasystems were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 80.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 14.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,133,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the third quarter valued at approximately $836,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 11.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Pegasystems from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.33.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.43, for a total transaction of $132,860.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.20, for a total transaction of $48,278.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,148. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.43, for a total value of $132,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 43,792 shares of company stock worth $2,781,669. Company insiders own 50.20% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ PEGA traded down $0.97 during trading on Monday, hitting $60.83. The stock had a trading volume of 800,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,741. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 74.18 and a beta of 1.06. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.66 and a twelve month high of $69.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.27.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $474.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $428.76 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 45.00%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Pegasystems Company Profile

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.