JMP Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Stock

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) had its price target hoisted by JMP Securities from $250.00 to $270.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the software maker’s stock.

PCTY has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paylocity from $211.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho upgraded shares of Paylocity from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.25.

Paylocity Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCTY opened at $205.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Paylocity has a fifty-two week low of $129.94 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $201.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 52.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.95.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.60). Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.93% and a net margin of 14.76%. Analysts expect that Paylocity will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 4,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.91, for a total transaction of $947,323.83. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,539.73. This represents a 81.82 % decrease in their position. 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 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.14, for a total value of $520,364.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,332,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,667,635,928.58. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,380 shares of company stock valued at $25,830,669. 21.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PCTY. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Paylocity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 1,650.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Paylocity by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 274 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Paylocity by 121.0% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. 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.