Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $106.31 and last traded at $105.44, with a volume of 85917 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $103.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on PEGA shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush upped their price target on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.91.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 77.74 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.68.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $80,070.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,772,818.33. This represents a 2.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $43,824.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,914 shares of company stock valued at $2,414,935 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 266.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,641,000 after buying an additional 284,095 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 107,824 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 28.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter valued at $430,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Pegasystems by 9.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,823 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.