Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Paylocity shares crossed above their 50-day moving average, reaching $147.67 and last trading at $147.39, compared with a 50-day average of $147.36.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $163.29 target price. Recent targets range from $154 to $201.
• Paylocity exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.84 in EPS versus $1.62 expected and revenue of $444.73 million versus $431.46 million, while revenue increased 11% year over year.

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.36 and traded as high as $147.67. Paylocity shares last traded at $147.39, with a volume of 556,936 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PCTY. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Paylocity from $128.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $175.00 target price on Paylocity in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.29.

Paylocity Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.02.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $444.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $431.46 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%.Paylocity's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Corporation will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, Director Craig Conway sold 3,145 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.80, for a total value of $493,136.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $346,057.60. This represents a 58.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $3,070,241.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,453,495 shares in the company, valued at $702,672,441.10. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 54,214 shares of company stock worth $8,322,580 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PCTY. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in Paylocity by 5,925.0% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 241 shares of the software maker's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paylocity in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation NASDAQ: PCTY provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) software for organizations and their employees. Its platform is designed to help businesses manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, workforce administration and related compliance activities through a unified system.

The company's products and services include payroll processing, tax and regulatory support, time and labor management, benefits administration, talent acquisition and management, employee performance tools, expense management, reporting and analytics.

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