Short Interest in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Rises By 15.4%

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,100,000 shares, an increase 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 currently 3.8 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on PCTY shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Paylocity from $200.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Paylocity from $178.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Paylocity from $194.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 80.0% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 243 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 34.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 303 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paylocity Stock Performance

PCTY traded up $1.92 on Tuesday, hitting $158.95. 6,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 524,889. The business’s fifty day moving average is $152.05 and its 200 day moving average is $154.84. Paylocity has a fifty-two week low of $129.94 and a fifty-two week high of $206.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.94.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.19. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm had revenue of $357.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Paylocity will post 4.51 EPS 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.