Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $201.88.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PCTY shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, January 5th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Paylocity from $210.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Paylocity from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday.

Paylocity Stock Performance

PCTY opened at $167.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $165.30 and its 200 day moving average is $163.52. Paylocity has a fifty-two week low of $139.40 and a fifty-two week high of $230.52.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.08. Paylocity had a return on equity of 21.37% and a net margin of 12.96%. The business had revenue of $326.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.34 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paylocity will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total transaction of $4,299,716.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,682,383,899.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paylocity news, SVP Katherine Ross sold 491 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.29, for a total value of $82,630.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,353 shares in the company, valued at $2,583,756.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total value of $4,299,716.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,587,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,682,383,899.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Paylocity by 195.8% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,280 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Paylocity by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,144,262 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $753,012,000 after purchasing an additional 25,562 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC raised its position in Paylocity by 132.0% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 14,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,319 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter worth $1,023,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Paylocity by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,771 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 7,828 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation provides cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers Payroll and Tax Services solution to simplifies payroll, automates processes, and manages compliance requirements within one system; and expense management, on demand payment, and garnishment solutions.