Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Stock: Insider Steven Sarowitz Sells 8,080 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Director Steven Sarowitz sold 8,080 Paylocity shares for approximately $1.43 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 0.18% while retaining more than 4.39 million shares.
• Strong financial results: Paylocity reported quarterly earnings of $1.84 per share, beating estimates by $0.22, while revenue reached $444.73 million and increased 11% year over year.
• Market and analyst view: Shares traded near their 52-week high at $176.46, and analysts maintained a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $167.88; institutional investors own 94.76% of the company.

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) Director Steven Sarowitz sold 8,080 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.57, for a total value of $1,426,685.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,390,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,197,919.55. This represents a 0.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Paylocity Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ PCTY traded down $0.73 on Monday, hitting $176.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 592,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,822. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.50. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 52-week low of $92.99 and a 52-week high of $178.53. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $152.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $444.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $431.46 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCTY has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Paylocity from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $167.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,639 shares of the software maker's stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,472 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in Paylocity by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 861 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Paylocity by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,653 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $4,535,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Paylocity by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company's stock.

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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