Ardevora Asset Management LLP Lowers Stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP cut its holdings in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY - Free Report) by 35.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,859 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 37,111 shares during the period. Ardevora Asset Management LLP owned 0.12% of Paylocity worth $11,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Paylocity by 0.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,413 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Paylocity by 5.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,059 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Paylocity by 18.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 412 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its stake in Paylocity by 6.0% in the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Paylocity by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of Paylocity stock traded down $0.28 on Friday, reaching $157.22. The company had a trading volume of 367,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,079. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $168.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.04. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 53.11, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.87. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 52-week low of $139.40 and a 52-week high of $230.52.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $326.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.34 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 21.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $1,295,532.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,746,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total transaction of $4,299,716.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,682,383,899.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $1,295,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,746,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359. Company insiders own 22.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PCTY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $180.00 target price (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $197.00 to $186.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.13.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation provides cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers Payroll and Tax Services solution to simplifies payroll, automates processes, and manages compliance requirements within one system; and expense management, on demand payment, and garnishment solutions.