Capital Fund Management S.A. Acquires 3,320 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,850 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A.’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $1,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Pegasystems by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PEGA shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.36.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This trade represents a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $139,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 21,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.75. This trade represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554 in the last three months. Insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of PEGA stock opened at $69.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.97 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.42. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

About Pegasystems

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.