Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $163.29.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PCTY shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Paylocity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paylocity from $128.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Paylocity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Paylocity from $168.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In related news, Director Kenneth B. Robinson sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.41, for a total value of $126,728.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,068,475.45. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 2,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,057.60. The trade was a 58.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,214 shares of company stock worth $8,322,580 over the last quarter. Insiders own 19.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCTY. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 1.0% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,472 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Paylocity by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,419 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in Paylocity by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 861 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Paylocity by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,382 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Paylocity by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,653 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,535,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY stock opened at $142.57 on Friday. Paylocity has a 52 week low of $92.99 and a 52 week high of $161.93. The company has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.22. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%.The company had revenue of $444.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paylocity will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current year.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) software for organizations and their employees. Its platform is designed to help businesses manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, workforce administration and related compliance activities through a unified system.

The company’s products and services include payroll processing, tax and regulatory support, time and labor management, benefits administration, talent acquisition and management, employee performance tools, expense management, reporting and analytics.