Candlestick Capital Management LP Increases Stock Holdings in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Candlestick Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 57,501 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,632 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP’s holdings in Paylocity were worth $11,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Certuity LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter valued at about $232,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,897 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,407,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 5,742.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,842 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,590 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paylocity Stock Up 1.4 %

PCTY stock opened at $191.11 on Monday. Paylocity Holding Co. has a one year low of $129.94 and a one year high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 49.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.56 and a 200-day moving average of $195.73.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 23,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $4,439,413.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 470,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,856,332. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PCTY shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $254.00 target price (up previously from $212.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Paylocity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Paylocity from $250.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.47.

Paylocity Company 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.