Barclays Trims Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Target Price to $66.00

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $68.00 to $66.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PEGA. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised shares of Pegasystems from a d+ rating to a c rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $70.56.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock opened at $58.94 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.22 and a 200-day moving average of $52.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $37.66 and a 12 month high of $69.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.02 and a beta of 1.06.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.64. Pegasystems had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 39.30%. The company had revenue of $474.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pegasystems will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $48,278.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,148. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related 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 value of $48,278.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,148. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 20,606 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $1,301,681.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,549,875.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,792 shares of company stock valued at $2,781,669. 50.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 219.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

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.