Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $212.01.

PCTY has been the topic of a number of other reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Paylocity from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Paylocity from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Paylocity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.00.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, SVP Andrew Cappotelli sold 247 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.29, for a total value of $47,742.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,828,605.86. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.74, for a total transaction of $193,684.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $361,775.58. This trade represents a 34.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,380 shares of company stock worth $25,830,669 in the last three months. Insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paylocity

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paylocity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $194,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 20.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,053 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Paylocity by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,551 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Paylocity by 1,650.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity in the third quarter valued at approximately $267,000. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paylocity Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $201.28 and its 200-day moving average is $180.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 54.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.95.

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

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.