Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Downgraded by DA Davidson to “Neutral”

DA Davidson lowered shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $32.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PEGA. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Pegasystems from $58.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Pegasystems from a “market outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. William Blair lowered Pegasystems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.40.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of Pegasystems stock opened at $33.23 on Monday. Pegasystems has a 1 year low of $25.10 and a 1 year high of $68.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.28.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.08). Pegasystems had a net margin of 18.66% and a return on equity of 32.21%. The business had revenue of $420.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $427.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pegasystems will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pegasystems news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 39,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total transaction of $1,417,457.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 95,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,406,198.25. The trade was a 29.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 1,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $41,191.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,105. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,672 shares of company stock worth $1,887,507. Insiders own 48.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Pegasystems by 3.2% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in Pegasystems by 2.2% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 3.4% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,709 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc develops enterprise software for customer engagement, workflow automation and business process management. Its solutions help organizations manage customer service, sales, marketing, operations and back-office processes across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s product portfolio includes Pega Platform, a low-code application development and automation platform; Pega Customer Service and Pega Sales; Pega Customer Decision Hub for real-time, personalized customer engagement; and tools for case management, robotic process automation and artificial intelligence.