Ameriprise Financial Inc. Raises Stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 291,440 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.52% of Paylocity worth $58,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,029,402 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $803,745,000 after buying an additional 46,183 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Paylocity by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,332,213 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $265,737,000 after acquiring an additional 320,319 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,073,988 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $214,275,000 after purchasing an additional 25,182 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 863,787 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $172,300,000 after purchasing an additional 7,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 650,599 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $129,775,000 after purchasing an additional 377,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In other news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 23,243 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total value of $4,439,413.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 470,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,856,332. The trade was a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 21.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Paylocity from $250.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Paylocity from $204.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.00.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY opened at $194.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.90, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 1 year low of $129.94 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.92.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The software maker reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.34. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 22.45%. The business had revenue of $454.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $441.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers payroll software solution for global payroll, expense management, tax services, on demand payment, and garnishment managed services; and time and labor management software for time and attendance, scheduling, and time collection.