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

Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $184.71.

PCTY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Paylocity from $194.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Paylocity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $200.00 in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Paylocity from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Paylocity Stock Performance

PCTY stock opened at $173.74 on Friday. Paylocity has a 52-week low of $129.94 and a 52-week high of $184.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $162.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.67. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.73, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.95.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.19. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $357.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Paylocity’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paylocity will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rachit Lohani sold 658 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.83, for a total transaction of $107,142.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,764 shares in the company, valued at $6,474,772.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Paylocity by 35.0% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,396,692 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $411,895,000 after purchasing an additional 621,946 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Paylocity by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,833,794 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,518,176,000 after acquiring an additional 278,607 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in Paylocity in the first quarter worth about $46,902,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Paylocity by 435.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 331,253 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $43,676,000 after acquiring an additional 269,354 shares during the period. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its position in Paylocity by 27.1% in the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 810,314 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $106,840,000 after acquiring an additional 172,807 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers payroll software solution for global payroll, expense management, tax services, on demand payment, and garnishment managed services; and time and labor management software for time and attendance, scheduling, and time collection.