Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,800 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Paylocity were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PCTY. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth about $82,172,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the third quarter worth about $90,181,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the third quarter worth about $18,506,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 26.8% during 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, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the third quarter worth about $17,262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PCTY. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, February 9th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $197.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paylocity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.13.

Paylocity Price Performance

NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $157.06 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.04. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $139.40 and a 1-year high of $230.52. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total value of $302,086.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,523,794.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total transaction of $4,299,716.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,587,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,682,383,899.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total value of $302,086.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359. 22.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Paylocity

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.