Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $403,000 in Paylocity Holding Corporation $PCTY

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,858 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PCTY. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Paylocity in the second quarter valued at approximately $430,315,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paylocity by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 943,591 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $143,747,000 after purchasing an additional 404,605 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Paylocity by 117.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 817,209 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $124,625,000 after purchasing an additional 442,218 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 748,803 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $119,262,000 after buying an additional 369,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 659,472 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $100,570,000 after buying an additional 42,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In other news, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.75, for a total value of $500,913.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 122,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,353,809.25. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joshua Scutt sold 4,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.82, for a total transaction of $708,648.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 75,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,345,718.78. This trade represents a 5.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 30,741 shares of company stock valued at $4,621,962 over the last ninety days. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY opened at $157.93 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.25. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.47. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.99 and a 12-month high of $180.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $444.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Paylocity

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher long-term earnings forecasts: Zacks Research raised its FY2027 EPS estimate to $6.33 from $5.98 and its FY2028 forecast to $7.18 from $6.67. It also initiated a FY2029 estimate of $8.28 and increased several quarterly forecasts, signaling improved expectations for Paylocity’s earnings trajectory. Zacks nevertheless maintained a “Hold” rating. Zacks Research comments on Paylocity FY2029 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI recruiting traction: Paylocity’s partner HireQuotient highlighted results at Alliance Building Services, where its AI-native recruiting platform reportedly reduced manual recruiting work by 70% and cut time-to-hire by more than half. The customer example supports demand for Paylocity’s integrated human-capital-management ecosystem. Paylocity partners for AI-powered recruiting
• Positive Sentiment: Sector momentum: Paylocity traded higher alongside MongoDB, Datadog, Five9 and Monday.com, suggesting investor appetite for software and technology shares also contributed to the stock’s recent strength. Software stocks trade higher
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed estimate revisions: Zacks slightly reduced its Q2 2028 EPS forecast to $1.57 from $1.58 and Q4 2027 to $1.39 from $1.43, partly offsetting the broader upward revisions. The current-year consensus remains approximately $6.86 per share.
• Neutral Sentiment: Limited insider sale: Director Steven Sarowitz sold 441 shares for approximately $68,355 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction reduced his holdings by only 0.01%, leaving him with nearly 4.47 million shares, making it unlikely to materially alter investor sentiment. Paylocity director stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation risk remains: With PCTY trading near its 52-week high and at roughly 32 times earnings, the stock may be vulnerable if future growth slows or estimates are revised lower. Zacks’ continued “Hold” rating reinforces that the improved outlook is not yet a broad-based bullish endorsement.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paylocity from $128.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of Paylocity from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paylocity from $122.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.53.

Paylocity Profile

Paylocity (NASDAQ: PCTY) is a leading provider of cloud-based payroll and human capital management (HCM) software designed to streamline workforce administration for mid-sized organizations. The company’s integrated platform automates core functions such as payroll processing, benefits administration, time and labor tracking, and compliance management, enabling employers to manage employee data more efficiently and reduce administrative burdens.

In addition to payroll and HR capabilities, Paylocity offers talent management solutions including recruiting, onboarding, performance tracking, and learning management.