Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PCTY. Barclays increased their price target 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 upped their target price on shares of Paylocity from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paylocity from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paylocity from $122.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.53.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY stock opened at $143.73 on Friday. Paylocity has a 12-month low of $92.99 and a 12-month high of $169.56. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $143.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.65.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last released its 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 net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 27.02%. The business had revenue of $444.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Paylocity will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, SVP Joshua Scutt sold 4,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.82, for a total value of $708,648.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 75,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,345,718.78. This represents a 5.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 3,145 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,057.60. The trade was a 58.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,214 shares of company stock worth $8,322,580 over the last ninety days. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in Paylocity by 5,925.0% in the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 241 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 4,250.0% in the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 261 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 500.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 342 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation is a provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and workforce management software. Its platform is designed to help organizations manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent, compliance and workforce operations through a unified system.

The company’s products and services include payroll processing, time and labor management, benefits administration, recruiting, onboarding, performance management, employee surveys and workplace communication tools.