Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by seventeen brokerages, with an average twelve-month price target of $221.76.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with an EPS of $2.43 compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09, and a quarterly revenue of $454.55 million.
• Insider Andrew Cappotelli sold 1,717 shares of Paylocity, decreasing his position by 12.56%, while 21.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Shares of Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $220.88.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PCTY shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Paylocity from $255.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paylocity from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Paylocity from $209.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $210.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Paylocity

In related news, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 1,717 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.74, for a total value of $303,462.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,112,573.22. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 21.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Paylocity by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,832 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $807,966,000 after acquiring an additional 283,430 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Paylocity by 3.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,287,514 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $803,224,000 after acquiring an additional 141,705 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 0.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,987,037 shares of the software maker's stock worth $746,932,000 after purchasing an additional 13,027 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,332,213 shares of the software maker's stock worth $265,737,000 after purchasing an additional 320,319 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,073,988 shares of the software maker's stock worth $214,275,000 after buying an additional 25,182 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paylocity Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PCTY traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $187.12. 47,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 465,461. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.50. Paylocity has a 52-week low of $142.00 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.91.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The software maker reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.34. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 22.90%. The firm had revenue of $454.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $441.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Paylocity's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Paylocity will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers payroll software solution for global payroll, expense management, tax services, on demand payment, and garnishment managed services; and time and labor management software for time and attendance, scheduling, and time collection.