Cerity Partners LLC Sells 46,629 Shares of Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC) by 80.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,505 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 46,629 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Paycom Software were worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Paycom Software by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,146,132 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $689,423,000 after acquiring an additional 801,539 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Paycom Software by 16,173.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 787,803 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $162,855,000 after purchasing an additional 782,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Paycom Software by 147.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,084,991 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $336,684,000 after buying an additional 646,679 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in Paycom Software in the 3rd quarter valued at about $103,800,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Paycom Software by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 877,824 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $304,061,000 after buying an additional 283,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

Paycom Software Trading Down 1.1 %

PAYC stock opened at $184.87 on Friday. Paycom Software, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.15 and a 1-year high of $374.04. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.86.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.50 million. Paycom Software had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 24.60%. Paycom Software’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Paycom Software, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paycom Software Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Paycom Software’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYC shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Paycom Software from $205.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Paycom Software in a report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Paycom Software from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Paycom Software in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.18.

Paycom Software Profile

Paycom Software, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement.