Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) Short Interest Up 27.3% in March

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,050,000 shares, a growth of 27.3% from the March 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 985,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other Pegasystems news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total value of $2,437,470.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % 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 hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $211,260.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock worth $6,134,554 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pegasystems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Pegasystems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 19,597 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Pegasystems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,875 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Pegasystems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Price Performance

PEGA stock traded down $1.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $66.77. 266,125 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,460. The company has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.11 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.45. Pegasystems has a twelve month low of $54.55 and a twelve month high of $113.67.

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

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $97.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Pegasystems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.09.

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.