Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Director Sells $978,088.32 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Steven Sarowitz sold 5,744 Paylocity shares for approximately $978,088 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. He retained 4.4 million shares, so the sale reduced his ownership by only 0.13%.
• Paylocity’s stock traded at $177.19, near its 52-week high, with a market capitalization of about $9.4 billion. The company recently exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.84 in quarterly EPS and $444.73 million in revenue, up 11% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $166.71, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the stock.

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) Director Steven Sarowitz sold 5,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.28, for a total value of $978,088.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,398,395 shares in the company, valued at $748,958,700.60. This trade represents a 0.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Paylocity Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ PCTY traded down $0.48 on Friday, reaching $177.19. The company had a trading volume of 456,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,697. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.99 and a 1 year high of $178.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.56 and a 200-day moving average of $127.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.50.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $431.46 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 27.02%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PCTY. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in Paylocity by 5,925.0% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 241 shares of the software maker's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paylocity during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paylocity by 4,250.0% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 261 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Paylocity by 500.0% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 342 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paylocity by 58.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 451 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PCTY. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Paylocity from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $175.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $166.71.

About Paylocity

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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