Barclays Boosts Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Price Target to $178.00

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Barclays from $166.00 to $178.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the software maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.19% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PCTY. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Paylocity from $210.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Paylocity from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.88.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of Paylocity stock opened at $167.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.23. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.88. Paylocity has a 1 year low of $139.40 and a 1 year high of $230.52.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $326.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.34 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 23.25% and a net margin of 14.42%. As a group, research analysts expect that Paylocity will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total transaction of $302,086.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares in the company, valued at $2,523,794.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total transaction of $1,295,532.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,746,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.64, for a total value of $302,086.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,547 shares of company stock worth $9,356,359. Company insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCTY. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Paylocity by 119.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,211,021 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $199,637,000 after purchasing an additional 658,057 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Paylocity by 35.0% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,396,692 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $411,895,000 after acquiring an additional 621,946 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth about $82,172,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity in the third quarter worth about $90,181,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Paylocity by 2,212.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 381,952 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $62,965,000 after purchasing an additional 365,435 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paylocity

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.