Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $235.00. The stock had previously closed at $194.16, but opened at $188.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Paylocity shares last traded at $192.54, with a volume of 105,014 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts have also commented on PCTY. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $231.00 to $204.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Paylocity in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price (down from $265.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paylocity currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 23,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $4,439,413.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 470,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,856,332. The trade was a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 21.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 650,599 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $129,775,000 after acquiring an additional 377,835 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Paylocity by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,332,213 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $265,737,000 after buying an additional 320,319 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Paylocity by 190.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 349,797 shares of the software maker's stock worth $69,774,000 after purchasing an additional 229,179 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paylocity during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,085,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in Paylocity by 6,025.6% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 125,758 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,085,000 after buying an additional 123,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company's stock.

Paylocity Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.53, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $454.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $441.77 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 22.45%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Paylocity Company Profile

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.