Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) Shares Up 5.9% – Here’s What Happened

Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC) rose 5.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $223.82 and last traded at $225.10. Approximately 97,523 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 704,733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paycom Software from $193.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paycom Software in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Paycom Software from $234.00 to $221.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp upgraded Paycom Software from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paycom Software from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.80.

Paycom Software Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.89.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The software maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.03. Paycom Software had a net margin of 26.66% and a return on equity of 33.53%. As a group, analysts forecast that Paycom Software, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paycom Software Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Paycom Software’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Randall Peck sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.19, for a total transaction of $763,884.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 50,665 shares in the company, valued at $10,750,606.35. This represents a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.22, for a total transaction of $109,110.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,686,840.60. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paycom Software

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYC. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Paycom Software by 137.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,396,452 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $491,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388,533 shares during the period. Sylebra Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Paycom Software by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 3,215,085 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $658,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,617 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Paycom Software by 1,153.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 401,889 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,375,000 after purchasing an additional 369,825 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paycom Software in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,923,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of Paycom Software in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,882,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

Paycom Software Company 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.