Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $306,000 in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,280 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PEGA. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 1.7% during 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 lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the 4th 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. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Pegasystems by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,586 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.36.

Pegasystems Stock Up 3.7 %

PEGA stock opened at $75.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 74.82 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.55 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.50 and a 200 day moving average of $85.61.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 11.88%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.38, for a total transaction of $2,437,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.00, for a total transaction of $188,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,547,804. The trade was a 10.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,543 shares of company stock worth $6,253,614 over the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pegasystems 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.