Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Loop Capital downgraded Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Pegasystems from $58.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.40.

Pegasystems Price Performance

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $35.18 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.54. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $25.10 and a 12 month high of $68.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88 and a beta of 0.89.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $420.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $427.38 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Pegasystems’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pegasystems will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 39,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total value of $1,417,457.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 95,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,406,198.25. The trade was a 29.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kerim Akgonul sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total transaction of $252,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 104,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,776,088.12. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 52,672 shares of company stock valued at $1,887,507 in the last quarter. 48.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Equity Partners LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 302.2% in the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 929 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the second quarter worth $62,000. 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.