Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its position in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,602 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 9,120 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Paylocity were worth $15,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Paylocity by 195.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,280 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Paylocity by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,144,262 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $753,012,000 after purchasing an additional 25,562 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its position in Paylocity by 132.0% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 14,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,319 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,023,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the third quarter valued at about $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PCTY shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Friday, January 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Paylocity in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paylocity news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total value of $302,086.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total transaction of $302,086.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $1,295,532.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,746,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359. Company insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of PCTY opened at $159.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.80. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $139.40 and a 1-year high of $230.52. The stock has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.87.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $326.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.34 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 21.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.