Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Stock Price Down 7.2% – Here’s What Happened

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) was down 7.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $47.66 and last traded at $47.35. Approximately 1,719,192 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 34% from the average daily volume of 1,278,991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEGA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. DA Davidson upgraded Pegasystems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.05.

Pegasystems Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 1.08.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $381.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $351.95 million. Pegasystems had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 43.49%. Pegasystems’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Leon Trefler sold 14,865 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $942,441.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 118,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,531,856.60. This trade represents a 11.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 4,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.25, for a total value of $297,581.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,853.50. The trade was a 95.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,301 shares of company stock valued at $9,744,759. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the third quarter worth $28,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 274.2% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 321.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 124.5% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 696 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc is a software company specializing in customer engagement and digital process automation solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pegasystems develops enterprise applications designed to help organizations streamline operations, manage customer interactions and automate complex workflows. Its platform supports a wide range of use cases, from sales and marketing optimization to case management and robotic process automation.

The core of Pegasystems’ offering is the Pega Platform, a low-code development environment that enables businesses to build and deploy applications with minimal hand-coding.