Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $4.98 Million Stock Holdings in Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 56.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,099 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 152,645 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $4,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEGA. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Pegasystems by 1.4% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,652 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 39,881 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $30.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.87. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.10 and a 12-month high of $68.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.71 and its 200 day moving average is $38.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $420.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $427.38 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 18.66%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEGA has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $55.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup lowered shares of Pegasystems from a “market outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Pegasystems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $35.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.35, for a total transaction of $151,575.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,784.50. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $27,742.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,306.56. This trade represents a 25.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,795 shares of company stock valued at $229,613. Company insiders own 48.40% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Company Profile

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.