Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $214.00 to $231.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight 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.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on PCTY. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Paylocity from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Paylocity from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $254.00 price objective (up from $212.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paylocity from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 12,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.29, for a total value of $2,399,841.54. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,300,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,663,257.63. This represents a 0.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Nicholas Rost sold 212 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 value of $40,977.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,387.56. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 127,380 shares of company stock valued at $25,830,669 over the last three months. Insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCTY. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Paylocity by 1,650.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Paylocity by 121.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 149.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 309 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Stock Down 2.9 %

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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $201.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.95.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.