Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 90,844 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 85.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,553 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 90,844 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.23% of Pegasystems worth $18,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Pegasystems by 150.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% in 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. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 48.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Pegasystems by 28.6% in the 4th 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 period. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,353,860.68. This represents a 0.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $139,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.75. This trade represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,791 shares of company stock valued at $6,134,554. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pegasystems Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $63.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 62.67 and a beta of 1.25. Pegasystems Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.55 and a 12-month high of $113.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.59.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its 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 return on equity of 32.09% and a net margin of 6.63%. Research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.09%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEGA. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.