Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $186.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $149.60, but opened at $184.52. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Paylocity shares last traded at $173.43, with a volume of 588,506 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted 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. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,587,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,682,383,899.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Paylocity news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,794.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total transaction of $4,299,716.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,682,383,899.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 1st quarter worth about $1,974,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 152.0% during the 1st quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 383 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 1st quarter worth about $1,540,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,900 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paylocity Trading Up 12.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.23.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.42% and a return on equity of 23.25%. The business had revenue of $326.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.34 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.