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

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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 trading volume of 555,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Paylocity Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ PCTY traded down $2.50 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $157.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 521,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,140. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $152.05 and a 200 day moving average of $154.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.65, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.94. Paylocity has a twelve month low of $129.94 and a twelve month high of $206.28.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $357.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.29 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Paylocity will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $225.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $194.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.13.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 49,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,745,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $248,979,738.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 49,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,745,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $248,979,738.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.06, for a total transaction 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. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PCTY. American National Bank acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter worth $40,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 34.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 303 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.