Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC has reduced its stake in Paylocity by 56.7%, now holding 123,126 shares valued at approximately $23 million, while other institutional investors have increased their positions.
• Analysts have given Paylocity a consensus target price of $222.71, with reports indicating mixed ratings; fourteen analysts rated it as a buy, while several others assigned hold ratings.
• Paylocity's stock has shown performance with a PE ratio of 42.88 and an increase in revenue of 12.2% year-over-year, posting an earnings per share of $1.56 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Free Report) by 56.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,126 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 161,499 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.22% of Paylocity worth $23,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,832 shares of the software maker's stock worth $807,966,000 after purchasing an additional 283,430 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the first quarter worth about $37,085,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 6,025.6% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 125,758 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,085,000 after purchasing an additional 123,705 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the first quarter worth about $20,106,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 416,531 shares of the software maker's stock worth $83,085,000 after purchasing an additional 106,770 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PCTY. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Paylocity from $209.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Paylocity from $225.00 to $218.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paylocity from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Paylocity from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paylocity has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.71.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $171.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business's 50 day moving average price is $181.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a PE ratio of 42.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.54. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 1 year low of $150.87 and a 1 year high of $223.80.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $400.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.25 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 14.24%. The business's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Paylocity news, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 1,717 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.74, for a total transaction of $303,462.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,112,573.22. The trade was a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 21.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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