Paylocity Holding Insiders Sell US$6.1m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

Over the past year, many Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Paylocity Holding

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Jeffrey Diehl, sold US$5.5m worth of shares at a price of US$212 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$177. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

In the last year Paylocity Holding insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Check out our latest analysis for Paylocity Holding

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Paylocity Holding Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Paylocity Holding shares. In total, Senior Vice President of Sales Joshua Scutt sold US$106k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Paylocity Holding insiders own about US$1.9b worth of shares (which is 19% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Paylocity Holding Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought Paylocity Holding stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But since Paylocity Holding is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Paylocity Holding.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.