Hancock Whitney Corp Buys New Shares in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,803 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Pegasystems by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Pegasystems by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,493 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEGA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $118.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Pegasystems from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.27.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Shares of PEGA opened at $91.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.26 and a 200 day moving average of $85.68. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.71 and a 1-year high of $113.67.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts anticipate that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.07%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is currently 5.83%.

Insider Activity at Pegasystems

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 17,308,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,339,353,860.68. The trade was a 0.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.90, for a total transaction of $59,154.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,900. This represents a 39.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,949 shares of company stock worth $8,703,263 over the last three months. 50.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.