Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Short Interest Up 15.4% in August

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,100,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the August 15th total of 1,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 555,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Paylocity Price Performance

Paylocity stock traded down $2.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $157.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 521,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,140. Paylocity has a 1-year low of $129.94 and a 1-year high of $206.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $152.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.84. The company has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.65, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.94.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.19. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $357.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paylocity will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PCTY shares. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $194.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.13.

Insider Transactions at Paylocity

In related news, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.06, for a total value of $196,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,352,224.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 49,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total value of $7,054,384.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,745,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $248,979,738.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.06, for a total transaction of $196,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,352,224.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 22.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCTY. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Paylocity by 119.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,211,021 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $199,637,000 after purchasing an additional 658,057 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Paylocity by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,396,692 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $411,895,000 after buying an additional 621,946 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Paylocity by 2,212.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 381,952 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $62,965,000 after buying an additional 365,435 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Paylocity by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,833,794 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,518,176,000 after buying an additional 278,607 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in Paylocity in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,902,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

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.