abrdn plc Sells 52,627 Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

abrdn plc cut its stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 115,291 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 52,627 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Paylocity were worth $19,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Paylocity by 195.8% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,280 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,144,262 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $753,012,000 after purchasing an additional 25,562 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 132.0% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 14,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,319 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter worth about $1,023,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total transaction of $4,299,716.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,682,383,899.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total value of $4,299,716.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,682,383,899.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total transaction of $302,086.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock worth $9,356,359. 22.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $156.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.94 and a 200-day moving average of $165.42. Paylocity Holding Co. has a one year low of $139.40 and a one year high of $230.52.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $326.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.34 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 21.37%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PCTY. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Paylocity from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a report on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Paylocity from $197.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Paylocity from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

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.