Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Pegasystems Call Options (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 3,158 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 241% compared to the typical volume of 925 call options.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Pegasystems stock opened at $65.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 44.05 and a beta of 1.08. Pegasystems has a 12 month low of $29.84 and a 12 month high of $67.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.29.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $381.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $351.95 million. Pegasystems had a return on equity of 43.49% and a net margin of 16.05%.The business’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pegasystems will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is 8.05%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In other news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.73, for a total value of $2,552,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 44,979,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,551,679,319.72. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 2,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.00, for a total value of $150,096.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,728 shares of company stock valued at $9,625,920. 49.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pegasystems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Pegasystems by 100.9% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 196,065 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,492,000 after buying an additional 98,468 shares in the last quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 100.0% in the second quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 703,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,086,000 after acquiring an additional 351,800 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 60.3% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 240,225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,003,000 after acquiring an additional 90,404 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 117.3% in the second quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 4,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the second quarter worth approximately $542,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEGA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Pegasystems in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.61.

Pegasystems Company 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.