Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a growth of 32.7% from the January 31st total of 896,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 429,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PCTY shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $214.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paylocity from $211.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.25.

Paylocity Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of PCTY stock traded down $5.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $199.04. The stock had a trading volume of 521,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 499,267. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $203.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.55. Paylocity has a 52-week low of $129.94 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 51.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts expect that Paylocity will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.14, for a total transaction of $520,364.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,332,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,667,635,928.58. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 63,849 shares of company stock worth $12,982,226 in the last three months. 21.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,603 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,118 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,813,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,652 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 274 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 247 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

About Paylocity

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.