Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 17,176 Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,518 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,176 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Paylocity worth $28,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paylocity by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048,806 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $173,053,000 after acquiring an additional 36,590 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Paylocity by 81.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 856,536 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $141,303,000 after acquiring an additional 385,625 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 517,931 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $85,444,000 after purchasing an additional 17,560 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 283.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 309,761 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $51,101,000 after purchasing an additional 229,057 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 287,264 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $47,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,878 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 4,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.91, for a total value of $947,323.83. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,539.73. This represents a 81.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 10,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.10, for a total transaction of $2,150,793.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,214,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,885,561.50. This represents a 0.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,999 shares of company stock worth $17,822,987. Company insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PCTY. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Paylocity from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Paylocity from $214.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho raised Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.25.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCTY opened at $204.82 on Friday. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 12 month low of $129.94 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $202.82 and a 200-day moving average of $185.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.95.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.60). Paylocity had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 22.45%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

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.