Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Short Interest Up 15.4% in August

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,100,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the August 15th total of 1,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 555,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PCTY shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on Paylocity from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Paylocity from $178.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Paylocity from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.13.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 49,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total value of $7,054,384.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,745,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,979,738.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 49,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total value of $7,054,384.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,745,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $248,979,738.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 1,400 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.06, for a total value of $196,084.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,074 shares in the company, valued at $4,352,224.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Paylocity by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 192,028 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,654,000 after purchasing an additional 38,613 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,507,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Paylocity by 274.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,010 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,717,000 after acquiring an additional 47,663 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,540,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,938,000. 94.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paylocity Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Paylocity stock traded up $1.92 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $158.95. The stock had a trading volume of 6,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,889. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.84. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 45.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.94. Paylocity has a 1 year low of $129.94 and a 1 year high of $206.28.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.19. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $357.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paylocity will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paylocity Company Profile

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.