Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Paylocity shares reached a new 52-week high of $171.53 after Citizens JMP raised its price target from $150 to $180 and maintained an outperform rating.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 12 Buy ratings and five Holds, giving the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $165.53.
• Paylocity reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.84 per share, beating estimates by $0.22, while revenue rose 11% year over year to $444.73 million.

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citizens Jmp raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $180.00. Citizens Jmp currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Paylocity traded as high as $171.53 and last traded at $170.06, with a volume of 696,298 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $166.17.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PCTY. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paylocity from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Paylocity in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paylocity from $154.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Paylocity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.53.

Insider Transactions at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 4,453,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,672,441.10. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Glenn sold 3,345 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.75, for a total value of $500,913.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 122,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,353,809.25. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 92,408 shares of company stock valued at $14,647,821. Corporate insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCTY. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of Paylocity by 5,925.0% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 241 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 4,250.0% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 261 shares of the software maker's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 500.0% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 342 shares of the software maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 58.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 451 shares of the software maker's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company's stock.

Paylocity Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.59 and a 200-day moving average of $126.81.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $431.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

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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