Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $235.00. The stock had previously closed at $194.16, but opened at $188.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Paylocity shares last traded at $192.54, with a volume of 105,014 shares changing hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PCTY. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Paylocity from $246.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Paylocity from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $258.00 price objective (up from $254.00) on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paylocity

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 23,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $4,439,413.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 470,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,856,332. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 21.91% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Paylocity in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Paylocity during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Paylocity by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 247 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 489.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Trading Down 3.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.97 and a 200-day moving average of $196.33.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The software maker reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $454.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $441.77 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 14.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

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.