Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,836 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC owned 0.05% of Paylocity worth $5,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PCTY. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 489.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the software maker's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 274 shares of the software maker's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Paylocity by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 431 shares of the software maker's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 26,252 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.91, for a total value of $5,116,777.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 420,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $81,862,200. This represents a 5.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 21.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PCTY shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paylocity from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Paylocity from $204.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank started coverage on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Paylocity from $255.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.00.

Paylocity Stock Performance

PCTY traded down $0.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $193.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 414,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,727. The company's fifty day moving average price is $189.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.01. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 52-week low of $129.94 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The software maker reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.34. Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 14.76%. The company had revenue of $454.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $441.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. Paylocity's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers payroll software solution for global payroll, expense management, tax services, on demand payment, and garnishment managed services; and time and labor management software for time and attendance, scheduling, and time collection.