Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $34.18 and last traded at $34.5820, with a volume of 360157 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PEGA. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Pegasystems from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on Pegasystems and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $58.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.70.

Pegasystems Stock Down 4.8%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.71 and a 200 day moving average of $50.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 0.88.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $429.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.24 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 30.05% and a net margin of 20.04%.Pegasystems’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is 6.45%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 7,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total value of $329,503.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 111,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,834,904.31. This represents a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.81, for a total value of $1,971,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,889,801.63. The trade was a 28.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 52,594 shares of company stock valued at $2,344,024 in the last ninety days. 48.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Pegasystems by 321.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pegasystems Company Profile

Pegasystems Inc is a software company specializing in customer engagement and digital process automation solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pegasystems develops enterprise applications designed to help organizations streamline operations, manage customer interactions and automate complex workflows. Its platform supports a wide range of use cases, from sales and marketing optimization to case management and robotic process automation.

The core of Pegasystems’ offering is the Pega Platform, a low-code development environment that enables businesses to build and deploy applications with minimal hand-coding.