Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) Price Target Raised to $215.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $187.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the software maker’s stock.

PAYC has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Paycom Software from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paycom Software from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Paycom Software from $229.00 to $221.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised Paycom Software from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Paycom Software from $215.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paycom Software has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.90.

Paycom Software Stock Performance

Shares of PAYC stock opened at $252.95 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $217.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.97. Paycom Software has a 1 year low of $139.50 and a 1 year high of $255.12. The firm has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.80.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The software maker reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $530.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $522.92 million. Paycom Software had a net margin of 26.66% and a return on equity of 33.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Paycom Software will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Paycom Software Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Paycom Software’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.85%.

Insider Activity at Paycom Software

In other Paycom Software news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.22, for a total value of $109,110.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,686,840.60. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Chad R. Richison sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.52, for a total transaction of $29,222,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,307,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $805,381,276.48. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,100 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,424 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paycom Software

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYC. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in Paycom Software by 1,918.4% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,584,493 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $346,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505,990 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Paycom Software by 137.8% during 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 last quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Paycom Software by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 3,215,085 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $658,996,000 after buying an additional 1,252,617 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 369,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paycom Software during the 4th quarter valued at $63,923,000. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.