Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 9,120 Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its position in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,602 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 9,120 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Paylocity worth $15,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Paylocity by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,144,262 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $753,012,000 after purchasing an additional 25,562 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,172,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP bought a new position in Paylocity in the third quarter worth approximately $90,181,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in Paylocity by 26.8% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 472,517 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $85,856,000 after purchasing an additional 99,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Paylocity by 2.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 461,992 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $83,944,000 after purchasing an additional 11,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Paylocity news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total transaction of $302,086.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $1,295,532.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,746,468 shares in the company, valued at $291,572,832.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock worth $9,356,359 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of PCTY stock opened at $159.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.40 and a 200 day moving average of $165.80. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 1 year low of $139.40 and a 1 year high of $230.52.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on PCTY shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BTIG Research started coverage on Paylocity in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on Paylocity from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Paylocity from $197.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Eight 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

Paylocity Profile

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.