Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Invests $418,000 in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,094 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 14.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,897 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,407,000 after purchasing an additional 5,609 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Paylocity by 207.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,836 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 5,958 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Paylocity by 3.2% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 287,264 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $47,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,878 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 81.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 856,536 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $141,303,000 after purchasing an additional 385,625 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 384 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PCTY shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Paylocity from $245.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Paylocity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paylocity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.82.

Paylocity Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $183.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.76. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $129.94 and a 1-year high of $223.80.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.60). Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 14.76%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 26,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.91, for a total value of $5,116,777.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 420,000 shares in the company, valued at $81,862,200. This represents a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

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.