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

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

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PCTY. BTIG Research increased their target price on Paylocity from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Paylocity from $178.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Paylocity from $143.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Paylocity from $168.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.47.

Paylocity Stock Performance

NASDAQ PCTY opened at $173.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.44. The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.43. Paylocity has a 52-week low of $92.99 and a 52-week high of $180.88.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The software maker reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.16. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%. The firm had revenue of $451.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $443.12 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paylocity will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paylocity news, Director Steven Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total value of $3,070,241.02. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,453,495 shares in the company, valued at $702,672,441.10. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman Steven R. Beauchamp sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.22, for a total value of $2,478,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,243,389 shares in the company, valued at $205,432,730.58. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 151,704 shares of company stock worth $25,137,741 in the last quarter. Insiders own 19.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Paylocity during the second quarter worth approximately $430,315,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paylocity in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,540,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the second quarter valued at about $54,906,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the second quarter worth approximately $54,867,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Paylocity by 143.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 606,158 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $65,489,000 after buying an additional 357,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: For Q1 fiscal 2027, Paylocity reported adjusted earnings of $2.09 per share, versus the $1.93 consensus, and revenue of $451.7 million, above the $443.1 million estimate. Revenue increased 10.7% year over year, while recurring and other revenue rose 12%. The company’s full-year outlook slightly exceeded expectations. Paylocity Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases added to the upbeat tone: Citizens JMP raised its target to $200 and kept a market outperform rating; Truist raised its target to $200 and maintained Buy; and BTIG lifted its target to $210 and reiterated Buy. Citizens JMP recommendations Truist target change BTIG Research recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity repurchased $152.5 million of shares during the quarter, continuing a buyback program that may support per-share results. It also completed the acquisition of Aidora to expand AI-powered leave-management capabilities. Quarterly results release
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $176 but maintained an Equal Weight rating, signaling a more cautious view than the other target revisions. Barclays recommendations

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll software for organizations. Its platform is designed to help employers manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, learning, and workforce administration through an integrated system.

The company also offers tools for time and labor management, scheduling, employee communications, engagement, surveys, expense management, and other workplace activities.