Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY – Get Rating) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 499,024 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 150,601 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.89% of Paylocity worth $96,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Paylocity by 0.4% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,413 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 0.7% in the third quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 7,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 8,346 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 1.8% in the first quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,744 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Hapoalim BM increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 1.5% in the third quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 6,958 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PCTY shares. DA Davidson raised shares of Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $297.00 to $245.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a report on Monday, February 13th. Cowen raised their price target on shares of Paylocity from $231.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Paylocity from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.86.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Paylocity stock opened at $171.28 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $183.97 and its 200-day moving average is $195.83. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 1 year low of $152.01 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The company has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.18 and a beta of 1.08.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The software maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.18. Paylocity had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The company had revenue of $339.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.79 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.70, for a total value of $8,385,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,226,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,023,291.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 32,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.60, for a total transaction of $6,132,456.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,309,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,047,754.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.70, for a total transaction of $8,385,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,226,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,023,291.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 84,242 shares of company stock valued at $14,791,349 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 26.50% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Profile

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Paylocity Holding Corp. engages in the development and provision of cloud-based software solutions. It offers cloud-based payroll, human capital management applications, time labor tracking, benefits administration, and talent management. The company was founded by Steve I. Sarowitz in 1997 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL.