Van ECK Associates Corp Takes $8.10 Million Position in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)

Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 40,612 shares of the software maker's stock, valued at approximately $8,101,000. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.07% of Paylocity at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Paylocity during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 41.1% in 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. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 121.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 305 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 149.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 309 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 384 shares of the software maker's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paylocity Price Performance

PCTY stock traded down $6.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $206.42. 435,063 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 512,359. Paylocity Holding Co. has a one year low of $129.94 and a one year high of $223.80. The stock has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 Holding Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 4,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.91, for a total value of $947,323.83. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $210,539.73. The trade was a 81.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.14, for a total transaction of $520,364.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,332,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,667,635,928.58. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,305 shares of company stock worth $20,130,202 over the last quarter. 21.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PCTY shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho raised shares of Paylocity from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $214.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.25.

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.