Paylocity Holding Corporation $PCTY Stock Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems cut its Paylocity stake by 84.1% in the third quarter, selling 15,900 shares and retaining 3,000 shares valued at about $428,000.
• Paylocity’s fiscal Q1 2027 results beat expectations: adjusted EPS was $2.09 versus $1.93 forecast, while revenue of $451.7 million rose 10.7% year over year and topped estimates.
• Analyst sentiment was broadly positive, with several firms raising price targets to around $200 or higher; the article reports a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its stake in shares of Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Free Report) by 84.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,000 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 15,900 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Paylocity were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 2nd quarter worth $430,315,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter valued at $70,540,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter valued at $54,906,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter valued at $54,867,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 143.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 606,158 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $65,489,000 after purchasing an additional 357,001 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PCTY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Paylocity from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $201.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.47.

Key Stories Impacting 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 Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $173.15 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.43. Paylocity Holding Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.99 and a 12-month high of $180.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The software maker reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.16. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 27.49%. The business had revenue of $451.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $443.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Paylocity's revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Chairman Steven R. Beauchamp sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.22, for a total value of $2,478,300.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,243,389 shares in the company, valued at $205,432,730.58. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total value of $3,070,241.02. Following the completion of 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 151,704 shares of company stock worth $25,137,741 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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