Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Given a $220.00 Price Target at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has decreased its price target for Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) from $235.00 to $220.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating on the stock, suggesting a potential upside of 16.43%.
• Despite the lowered target, Paylocity has received multiple ratings upgrades from other analysts, with the average rating being "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target around $220.88.
• Recently, Paylocity's stock price traded at $188.96, with significant analyst and insider activity affecting overall market sentiment and trading volume.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) has been assigned a $220.00 target price by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the software maker's stock. Raymond James Financial's price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.73% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $258.00 price objective (up from $254.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens began coverage on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $225.00 to $218.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Paylocity from $210.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.88.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Paylocity stock traded down $4.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $180.73. 77,966 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 465,848. Paylocity has a 12-month low of $142.00 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $184.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.88.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The software maker reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.34. Paylocity had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 22.90%. The company had revenue of $454.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $441.77 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Paylocity's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Paylocity will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 1,717 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.74, for a total value of $303,462.58. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,953 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,573.22. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 21.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Paylocity by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,107 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,780,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in Paylocity by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 4,052 shares of the software maker's stock worth $808,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Paylocity by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 863,787 shares of the software maker's stock worth $172,300,000 after acquiring an additional 7,251 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth about $12,131,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Paylocity by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,988 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company's stock.

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.