Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Progress Software Co. (NASDAQ:PRGS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $69.29 and last traded at $69.25, with a volume of 157398 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PRGS. DA Davidson upped their target price on Progress Software from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Progress Software in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Progress Software from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Progress Software from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Progress Software from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progress Software presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.67.

Progress Software Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.92.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The software maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.12. Progress Software had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $178.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Progress Software Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Progress Software

In related news, CFO Anthony Folger sold 7,797 shares of Progress Software stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.39, for a total value of $525,439.83. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,029.86. This trade represents a 18.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ian Pitt sold 1,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.07, for a total transaction of $113,677.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,167 shares in the company, valued at $206,076.69. The trade was a 35.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progress Software

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRGS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Progress Software in the second quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progress Software by 76.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Progress Software by 29.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,640 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Progress Software by 19.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progress Software during the 2nd quarter valued at $160,000.

Progress Software Company Profile

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers.