Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Director Steven Sarowitz Sells 5,744 Shares of Stock

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) Director Steven Sarowitz sold 5,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.28, for a total transaction of $978,088.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,398,395 shares in the company, valued at $748,958,700.60. This trade represents a 0.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY stock opened at $177.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $152.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.11. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a one year low of $92.99 and a one year high of $178.24.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.46 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 27.02%. Paylocity’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Paylocity

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity launched its AI-powered Recruiting Optimizer, part of its Ignite AI platform. The company says the tool can improve recruiter productivity by 35%, accelerate hiring by 25% and reduce candidate drop-off by 15%, strengthening its competitive position in cloud-based human capital management software. Paylocity launches AI-powered Recruiting Optimizer
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP raised its price target on PCTY from $150 to $180 while maintaining a “market outperform” rating, indicating confidence in further gains. Citizens JMP raises Paylocity price target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Paylocity’s history of exceeding earnings estimates and said the company currently has the key conditions needed for a potential beat in its next quarterly report. Zacks analysis of Paylocity earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity’s latest quarterly results beat consensus, with earnings of $1.84 per share versus $1.62 expected and revenue of $444.73 million versus $431.46 million expected. Revenue increased 11% year over year, supporting the company’s growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership remains high at roughly 94.8%, while several investment firms initiated or expanded positions during the third quarter. The individual trades were relatively small but suggest continued institutional interest.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Steven Sarowitz sold 10,617 shares for approximately $1.80 million on October 20 and 5,744 shares for about $978,000 on October 21, following an earlier sale of 10,445 shares. The transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, and Sarowitz still owns more than 4.39 million shares, making the sales a modest reduction in his stake; nevertheless, repeated insider selling can create some pressure while PCTY trades near its 52-week high. Paylocity director stock sale

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Paylocity by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 10.8% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,373 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the third quarter valued at about $281,000. MBL Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the third quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the third quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PCTY. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Paylocity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $201.00 target price on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Paylocity in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $175.00 price target on Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.71.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll software for organizations. Its platform is designed to help employers manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, learning, and workforce administration through an integrated system.

The company also offers tools for time and labor management, scheduling, employee communications, engagement, surveys, expense management, and other workplace activities.