Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $250.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Paylocity traded as high as $223.00 and last traded at $214.83, with a volume of 2319 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.01.

PCTY has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Paylocity from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upgraded Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $214.00 to $231.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Paylocity from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.00.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 2,600 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.14, for a total transaction of $520,364.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,332,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,667,635,928.58. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 247 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.29, for a total transaction of $47,742.63. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,828,605.86. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 127,380 shares of company stock worth $25,830,669 in the last 90 days. 21.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Paylocity by 16,397.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,754 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 7,707 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 222.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,837 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,475 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Paylocity by 14.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,897 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $7,407,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 5,742.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,842 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 282,426 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $46,592,000 after acquiring an additional 4,697 shares in the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paylocity Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.32, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $201.28 and a 200-day moving average of $180.54.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.60). Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.46 EPS 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.