Trexquant Investment LP Buys 68,623 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 143.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,308 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,623 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.14% of Pegasystems worth $10,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at $66,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 398.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 702,838 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,505,000 after acquiring an additional 561,807 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth about $27,623,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 637,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,462,000 after purchasing an additional 153,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,528,043.58. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $2,234,295.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 17,247,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,373,261.02. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,791 shares of company stock worth $5,995,054 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $72.19 on Thursday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.55 and a 12-month high of $113.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $85.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.74. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 71.48 and a beta of 1.25.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 32.09%. On average, research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PEGA shares. StockNews.com downgraded Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $103.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pegasystems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.36.

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.