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

Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC)’s share price was up 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 traded hands during mid-day 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 analysts recently commented on PAYC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paycom Software from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on Paycom Software from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Paycom Software from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Paycom Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $234.00 to $221.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paycom Software presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.80.

Paycom Software Trading Up 2.4 %

The company has a market cap of $12.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $208.61 and a 200-day moving average of $198.19.

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

Paycom Software Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Paycom Software’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 7,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,686,840.60. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Randall Peck sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.19, for a total value of $763,884.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 50,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,750,606.35. This trade represents a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paycom Software

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Paycom Software by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,018 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $54,305,000 after purchasing an additional 41,187 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paycom Software by 9.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,809 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,962,000 after acquiring an additional 5,574 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paycom Software by 55.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,007,919 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $167,889,000 after purchasing an additional 357,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Paycom Software by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 204,377 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,952,000 after buying an additional 6,916 shares during the period. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paycom Software during the 3rd quarter valued at $555,000. 87.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Paycom Software

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.