The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Holdings in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,840 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 442 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of Paylocity worth $6,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PCTY. Certuity LLC bought a new position in Paylocity during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 14.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,897 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $7,407,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paylocity by 5,742.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,842 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Paylocity by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,590 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PCTY. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $246.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on Paylocity in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Paylocity from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Paylocity from $204.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 23,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total value of $4,439,413.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 470,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,856,332. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 21.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paylocity Stock Performance

PCTY stock opened at $186.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of 47.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.56. Paylocity Holding Co. has a 12-month low of $129.94 and a 12-month high of $223.80. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The software maker reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $454.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $441.77 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 14.76%. Paylocity’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paylocity 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.