Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $186.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $149.60, but opened at $184.52. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Paylocity shares last traded at $173.43, with a volume of 588,506 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on PCTY. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Paylocity from $210.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In other Paylocity news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $1,295,532.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,746,468 shares in the company, valued at $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $1,295,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,746,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine Ross sold 491 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.29, for a total value of $82,630.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,353 shares in the company, valued at $2,583,756.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCTY. Capital International Investors grew its position in Paylocity by 119.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,211,021 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $199,637,000 after buying an additional 658,057 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Paylocity by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,396,692 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $411,895,000 after acquiring an additional 621,946 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the 4th quarter worth $82,172,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP bought a new position in Paylocity in the 3rd quarter worth $90,181,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Paylocity by 2,212.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 381,952 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $62,965,000 after purchasing an additional 365,435 shares during the period. 94.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paylocity Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 56.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $165.30 and its 200-day moving average is $163.52.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $326.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.34 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 21.37%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation provides cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions for workforce in the United States. The company offers Payroll and Tax Services solution to simplifies payroll, automates processes, and manages compliance requirements within one system; and expense management, on demand payment, and garnishment solutions.