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

Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading 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 changing hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PCTY. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, January 5th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Paylocity from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research started coverage on Paylocity in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Paylocity from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paylocity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 owns 1,746,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Jeffrey T. Diehl sold 20,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.55, for a total value of $3,376,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,762,703.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven R. Beauchamp sold 7,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,572,832.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,359 in the last quarter. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Paylocity by 195.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,280 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Paylocity by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,144,262 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $753,012,000 after buying an additional 25,562 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC increased its stake in Paylocity by 132.0% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 14,623 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 8,319 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in Paylocity during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,023,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Paylocity by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,771 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,600,000 after buying an additional 7,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.23. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 48.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.88.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $326.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.34 million. Paylocity had a return on equity of 23.25% and a net margin of 14.42%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paylocity Holding Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Paylocity Company Profile

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.