Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on PCTY. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paylocity from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Paylocity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.53.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Paylocity

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY opened at $144.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.18 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Paylocity has a 1 year low of $92.99 and a 1 year high of $169.56.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.22. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%.The company had revenue of $444.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $431.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paylocity will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.75, for a total value of $500,913.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 122,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,353,809.25. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 2,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $382,066.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 44,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,641,814.07. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,214 shares of company stock valued at $8,322,580. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Paylocity by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 49,614 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,360,000 after buying an additional 7,891 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Paylocity during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,906,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Paylocity during the second quarter valued at approximately $430,315,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 181.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,688 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,411,000 after acquiring an additional 21,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter worth approximately $20,119,000. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Paylocity

(Get Free Report)

Paylocity Holding Corporation is a provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and workforce management software. Its platform is designed to help organizations manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent, compliance and workforce operations through a unified system.

The company’s products and services include payroll processing, time and labor management, benefits administration, recruiting, onboarding, performance management, employee surveys and workplace communication tools.

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