TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Stock Price

Key Points

• TD Cowen raised Paylocity’s price target from $168 to $177 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying 17.41% potential upside from the stock’s $150.75 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 12 “buy” ratings and five “hold” ratings producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target of $160.53.
• Paylocity exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.84 in EPS versus $1.62 expected and $444.73 million in revenue, up 11% year over year.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $168.00 to $177.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the software maker's stock. TD Cowen's price target points to a potential upside of 17.41% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PCTY. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Paylocity in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Paylocity from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on shares of Paylocity from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Paylocity from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.53.

Paylocity Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCTY traded up $1.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $150.75. The stock had a trading volume of 35,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,036. Paylocity has a 52 week low of $92.99 and a 52 week high of $182.83. The business's 50-day moving average price is $124.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43 and a beta of 0.48.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.22. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%.The business had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Paylocity's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paylocity will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 11,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $1,679,420.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,535,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $683,931,192.12. The trade was a 0.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 136,388 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $25,551,000 after acquiring an additional 7,594 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,365 shares of the software maker's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paylocity by 537.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 465 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Paylocity by 2,782.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 35,688 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,466,000 after acquiring an additional 34,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 10.0% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,241 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company's stock.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity NASDAQ: PCTY is a leading provider of cloud-based payroll and human capital management (HCM) software designed to streamline workforce administration for mid-sized organizations. The company's integrated platform automates core functions such as payroll processing, benefits administration, time and labor tracking, and compliance management, enabling employers to manage employee data more efficiently and reduce administrative burdens.

In addition to payroll and HR capabilities, Paylocity offers talent management solutions including recruiting, onboarding, performance tracking, and learning management.

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