Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $346.18 Million Stake in Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. significantly increased its stake in Paycom Software, raising its holdings by 1,918.4% to 1,584,493 shares, valued at approximately $346 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Paycom Software, with BMO Capital Markets increasing it from $215 to $244, while KeyCorp raised its target to $270, indicating positive sentiment about the stock.
• Paycom Software's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $2.80 earnings per share (EPS), compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62, along with a revenue increase of 6.1% year-over-year.

Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC - Free Report) by 1,918.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,584,493 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 1,505,990 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 2.74% of Paycom Software worth $346,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sylebra Capital LLC grew its stake in Paycom Software by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 3,215,085 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $658,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,617 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Paycom Software by 137.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,396,452 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $491,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388,533 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Paycom Software by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,768 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $310,245,000 after acquiring an additional 89,848 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Paycom Software by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 724,016 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $148,402,000 after acquiring an additional 70,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Paycom Software by 1,153.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 401,889 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $82,375,000 after acquiring an additional 369,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Paycom Software

In related news, COO Randall Peck sold 890 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.21, for a total value of $234,256.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 49,394 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,994.74. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Chad R. Richison sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.52, for a total value of $29,222,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,307,249 shares in the company, valued at $805,381,276.48. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,016 shares of company stock worth $42,736,608 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.90% of the company's stock.

Paycom Software Trading Down 0.5%

Paycom Software stock traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $235.31. The stock had a trading volume of 185,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,260. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.77. Paycom Software, Inc. has a 12 month low of $152.46 and a 12 month high of $267.76.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $530.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $522.92 million. Paycom Software had a return on equity of 25.53% and a net margin of 20.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Paycom Software, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paycom Software Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Paycom Software's dividend payout ratio is 21.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYC. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Paycom Software from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Paycom Software from $221.00 to $240.00 and gave the company 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 company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paycom Software from $187.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Paycom Software from $224.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $226.90.

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.