StockNews.com Upgrades Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) to “Buy”

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PCTY. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Paylocity from $172.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Paylocity from $187.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of Paylocity from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paylocity presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.87.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of PCTY opened at $191.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.04, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.93. Paylocity has a twelve month low of $129.94 and a twelve month high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $165.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.07.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.19. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $357.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Paylocity will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rachit Lohani sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.83, for a total value of $107,142.14. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,474,772.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 1,650.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Paylocity in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Paylocity by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 243 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Paylocity by 121.0% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 152.0% during the first quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 383 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

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.