Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Director Sells 10,617 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Steven Sarowitz sold 10,617 Paylocity shares at an average price of $169.76, generating approximately $1.80 million. The Rule 10b5-1 transaction reduced his ownership by just 0.24%, leaving him with more than 4.4 million shares.
• Paylocity shares rose 4.9% to $177.67, near their 52-week high, giving the company a market capitalization of about $9.43 billion. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.84 in adjusted earnings per share and $444.73 million in revenue, while revenue grew 11% year over year. Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with Citizens JMP raising its price target to $180 and the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating.

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) Director Steven Sarowitz sold 10,617 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.76, for a total transaction of $1,802,341.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,404,139 shares in the company, valued at $747,646,636.64. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Paylocity Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of PCTY stock traded up $8.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $177.67. 619,928 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,920. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.99 and a 1 year high of $178.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.89, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.50. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $151.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.26.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.22. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%. The business had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Paylocity

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity launched Recruiting Optimizer, an AI-powered tool built on its Ignite AI platform. The company says it can improve recruiter productivity by 35%, accelerate hiring by 25%, and reduce candidate drop-off by 15%. The product could strengthen Paylocity’s competitive position in human-capital-management software and support additional customer adoption. Paylocity launches AI-powered Recruiting Optimizer
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP raised its Paylocity price target from $150 to $180 while maintaining a “market outperform” rating. The increase signals greater confidence in the company’s earnings and growth prospects and provides a supportive valuation reference for the stock. Citizens JMP raises Paylocity price target
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results remain favorable: Paylocity exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.84 in earnings per share versus a $1.62 consensus estimate and $444.73 million in revenue versus expectations of $431.46 million. Revenue increased 11% year over year, supporting the bullish analyst view.
• Neutral Sentiment: A stock analysis highlighted Paylocity’s profitability and a 21.97% return on equity. While this indicates effective use of shareholder capital, the report offers limited new information likely to materially change near-term trading. Paylocity stock analysis and return on equity
• Negative Sentiment: Director Steven Sarowitz sold 10,445 shares for approximately $1.74 million. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced his stake by only 0.24%, leaving him with more than 4.4 million shares; therefore, it is a limited concern, but insider selling can create modest pressure while the stock trades near a 52-week high. Paylocity director insider sale

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Paylocity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $430,315,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $70,540,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 663,449 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $69,350,000 after buying an additional 57,291 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 17.8% in the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 616,407 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $66,597,000 after buying an additional 93,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,906,000. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCTY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $201.00 price target on Paylocity in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.53.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation NASDAQ: PCTY provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll software for organizations. Its platform is designed to help employers manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, learning, and workforce administration through an integrated system.

The company also offers tools for time and labor management, scheduling, employee communications, engagement, surveys, expense management, and other workplace activities.

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