Quent Capital LLC Sells 12,179 Shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA)

Quent Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) by 94.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 725 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,179 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Pegasystems were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $571,000. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 166.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 70,432 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,148,000 after purchasing an additional 44,035 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Pegasystems by 709.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 97,563 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,131,000 after purchasing an additional 85,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems in the 3rd quarter valued at $146,000. 46.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pegasystems Stock Down 19.6 %

NASDAQ PEGA opened at $85.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.25 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.51 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.73.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.20). Pegasystems had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 8.29%. Research analysts expect that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pegasystems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Pegasystems news, insider Leon Trefler sold 752 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.83, for a total value of $70,560.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,006.59. The trade was a 1.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.67, for a total value of $586,954.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,466 shares in the company, valued at $1,748,176.22. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,003 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,086. 50.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pegasystems from $99.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Pegasystems from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pegasystems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pegasystems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.91.

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.