Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paycom Software in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $244.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Paycom Software in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $243.69.

Paycom Software Price Performance

Shares of PAYC stock opened at $199.56 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.17. Paycom Software has a 1 year low of $163.75 and a 1 year high of $267.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.82.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.28. Paycom Software had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 25.40%. The business had revenue of $483.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paycom Software will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paycom Software

In other news, insider Bradley Scott Smith sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.27, for a total transaction of $334,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 24,533 shares in the company, valued at $5,477,482.91. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 10.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Paycom Software by 3.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,623,570 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,301,294,000 after acquiring an additional 165,647 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Paycom Software by 8.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,097,910 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $485,456,000 after acquiring an additional 162,477 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paycom Software by 5.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,661,685 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $383,265,000 after acquiring an additional 83,154 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Paycom Software by 1,918.4% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,584,493 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $346,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Paycom Software by 5.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,233,057 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $269,398,000 after acquiring an additional 58,176 shares in the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.