Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Stock Bumped Up to "Buy" by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Paylocity from “Hold” to “Buy.” Overall, 12 analysts rate the stock Buy and five rate it Hold, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.47.
• Paylocity beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $2.09 per share versus $1.93 expected and revenue of $451.67 million versus $443.12 million. Revenue grew 10.7% year over year.
• Several analysts raised their price targets, including BTIG Research to $210 and Citizens JMP to $200; meanwhile, company insiders sold a combined 151,704 shares worth about $25.1 million over the past 90 days.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

PCTY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Paylocity from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim increased their price target on Paylocity from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Paylocity from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Paylocity from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $177.47.

Paylocity Trading Up 2.1%

Paylocity stock opened at $173.15 on Friday. 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 one year low of $92.99 and a one year high of $180.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.11 and a 200-day moving average of $127.44. The company has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.43.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The software maker reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $451.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $443.12 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 27.02%. Paylocity's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paylocity will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Steven R. Beauchamp sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.22, for a total value of $2,478,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,243,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $205,432,730.58. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Steven Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $3,070,241.02. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,453,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,672,441.10. The trade was a 0.44% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 151,704 shares of company stock valued at $25,137,741 over the last 90 days. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Paylocity in the 2nd quarter worth about $430,315,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity during the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,540,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the second quarter valued at about $54,906,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Paylocity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,867,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 143.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 606,158 shares of the software maker's stock worth $65,489,000 after purchasing an additional 357,001 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Paylocity

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: For Q1 fiscal 2027, Paylocity reported adjusted earnings of $2.09 per share, versus the $1.93 consensus, and revenue of $451.7 million, above the $443.1 million estimate. Revenue increased 10.7% year over year, while recurring and other revenue rose 12%. The company’s full-year outlook slightly exceeded expectations. Paylocity Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases added to the upbeat tone: Citizens JMP raised its target to $200 and kept a market outperform rating; Truist raised its target to $200 and maintained Buy; and BTIG lifted its target to $210 and reiterated Buy. Citizens JMP recommendations Truist target change BTIG Research recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity repurchased $152.5 million of shares during the quarter, continuing a buyback program that may support per-share results. It also completed the acquisition of Aidora to expand AI-powered leave-management capabilities. Quarterly results release
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $176 but maintained an Equal Weight rating, signaling a more cautious view than the other target revisions. Barclays recommendations

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation NASDAQ: PCTY provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll software for organizations. Its platform is designed to help employers manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, learning, and workforce administration through an integrated system.

The company also offers tools for time and labor management, scheduling, employee communications, engagement, surveys, expense management, and other workplace activities.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.