North Star Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC)

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,681 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Paycom Software worth $9,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYC. Sylebra Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Paycom Software by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 3,215,085 shares of the software maker's stock worth $658,996,000 after buying an additional 1,252,617 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Paycom Software by 137.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,396,452 shares of the software maker's stock worth $491,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388,533 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Paycom Software by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,768 shares of the software maker's stock worth $310,245,000 after purchasing an additional 89,848 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Paycom Software by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 724,016 shares of the software maker's stock worth $148,402,000 after purchasing an additional 70,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paycom Software by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 498,073 shares of the software maker's stock worth $102,090,000 after purchasing an additional 11,611 shares during the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYC. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paycom Software from $187.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paycom Software from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on Paycom Software from $221.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Paycom Software from $215.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $226.90.

Paycom Software Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of PAYC stock traded down $3.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $256.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 131,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,335. The company has a 50 day moving average of $229.99 and a 200 day moving average of $220.34. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.80. Paycom Software, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.50 and a 12-month high of $263.27.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.18. Paycom Software had a net margin of 26.66% and a return on equity of 33.53%. The business had revenue of $530.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $522.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paycom Software, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paycom Software Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Paycom Software's payout ratio is 21.40%.

Insider Transactions at Paycom Software

In other news, CEO Chad R. Richison sold 26,426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.52, for a total transaction of $6,752,371.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,277,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $837,402,664.48. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradley Scott Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.01, for a total transaction of $603,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,775,620.33. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 149,426 shares of company stock worth $36,577,802 over the last quarter. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Paycom Software

Paycom Software, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement.