Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases Shares of 4,037 Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,037 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 484,296 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Pegasystems by 149.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,056 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 10,806 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 440.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 147,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,770,000 after buying an additional 120,090 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Pegasystems by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 322,424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,566,000 after buying an additional 11,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,567,000. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEGA opened at $96.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.47 and its 200 day moving average is $68.38. Pegasystems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.07 and a fifty-two week high of $96.68.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The business had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pegasystems

In other news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total value of $70,410.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,417.05. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Efstathios A. Kouninis sold 932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $66,172.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $142. The trade was a 99.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,595 shares of company stock worth $2,454,034 over the last ninety days. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PEGA shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair raised shares of Pegasystems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Pegasystems from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Pegasystems from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.90.

Pegasystems 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.