AlphaQuest LLC Trims Stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its position in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 43.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,854 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,168 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Paylocity were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PCTY. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Paylocity by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,652 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Paylocity by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 274 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Paylocity by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 247 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Paylocity by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,156 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Paylocity by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,414,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Stock Performance

PCTY opened at $186.53 on Thursday. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 12-month low of $129.94 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 47.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $202.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.90.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.60). Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 14.76%. On average, analysts anticipate that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on PCTY shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Paylocity from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $211.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 11,473 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.37, for a total transaction of $2,333,264.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,344,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,030,116.65. The trade was a 0.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 29,187 shares of company stock valued at $5,888,655 in the last three months. 21.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paylocity 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.