State of Wyoming Increases Stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

State of Wyoming grew its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 117.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,766 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,426 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Pegasystems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 19,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,875 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $185,860.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,811,670.35. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 128,520 shares of company stock worth $9,752,250 over the last three months. Company insiders own 49.70% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $98.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $78.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.65. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.71 and a 12 month high of $113.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.99 and a beta of 1.14.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.06%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.83%.

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.