Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) by 20.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,343 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Paylocity were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Paylocity by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,107 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,780,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Paylocity by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Paylocity by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,710 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paylocity by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 130,947 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $26,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Paylocity by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,625 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paylocity Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of PCTY stock opened at $186.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 12-month low of $146.02 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $183.85 and its 200 day moving average is $191.53.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.18. Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 14.24%. The firm had revenue of $400.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCTY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Paylocity from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $258.00 target price (up from $254.00) on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Paylocity from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.19.

Insider Transactions at Paylocity

In other news, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 1,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.74, for a total transaction of $303,462.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,573.22. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

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.