Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) Trading Up 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC)’s share price traded up 5.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $219.45 and last traded at $218.72. 140,335 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 698,838 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $234.00 to $221.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paycom Software in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Paycom Software from $215.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Paycom Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Paycom Software from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paycom Software currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.80.

Paycom Software Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $209.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The software maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.03. Paycom Software had a return on equity of 33.53% and a net margin of 26.66%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paycom Software, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Paycom Software Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Paycom Software’s dividend payout ratio is 16.85%.

Insider Activity at Paycom Software

In related news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.22, for a total transaction of $109,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,840.60. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Randall Peck sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.19, for a total transaction of $763,884.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 50,665 shares in the company, valued at $10,750,606.35. This trade represents a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paycom Software

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYC. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Paycom Software by 137.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,396,452 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $491,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388,533 shares during the period. Sylebra Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Paycom Software by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 3,215,085 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $658,996,000 after buying an additional 1,252,617 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Paycom Software by 1,153.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 401,889 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $82,375,000 after acquiring an additional 369,825 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paycom Software in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,923,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Paycom Software in the fourth quarter worth $60,882,000. Institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

About Paycom Software

Paycom Software, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement.