Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Director Steven Sarowitz Sells 19,459 Shares

Key Points

• Director Steven Sarowitz sold 19,459 Paylocity shares for approximately $3.07 million at an average price of $157.78, reducing his ownership by 0.44% while retaining 4.45 million shares.
• Paylocity reported quarterly earnings of $1.84 per share, exceeding estimates of $1.62, while revenue rose 11% year over year to $444.73 million. Shares recently traded at $160.22, near the analyst consensus target of $160.53.
• Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with 12 Buy ratings and five Holds.

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) Director Steven Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $3,070,241.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,453,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,672,441.10. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of Paylocity stock traded up $2.29 on Monday, hitting $160.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,039,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,371. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 52 week low of $92.99 and a 52 week high of $180.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.25.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in Paylocity by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 149,800 shares of the software maker's stock worth $15,659,000 after purchasing an additional 40,971 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Paylocity by 9.5% during the second 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. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Paylocity by 9.4% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 136,375 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $14,255,000 after buying an additional 11,732 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Paylocity in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,976,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Paylocity by 10,474.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,246,465 shares of the software maker's stock worth $548,413,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on PCTY shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paylocity from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $140.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $201.00 price objective on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $160.53.

About Paylocity

Paylocity NASDAQ: PCTY is a leading provider of cloud-based payroll and human capital management (HCM) software designed to streamline workforce administration for mid-sized organizations. The company's integrated platform automates core functions such as payroll processing, benefits administration, time and labor tracking, and compliance management, enabling employers to manage employee data more efficiently and reduce administrative burdens.

In addition to payroll and HR capabilities, Paylocity offers talent management solutions including recruiting, onboarding, performance tracking, and learning management.

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