Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $160.53 According to Brokerages

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $160.53.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Paylocity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Paylocity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paylocity in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $201.00 target price on Paylocity in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Paylocity from $128.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Paylocity Stock Down 0.4%

PCTY opened at $142.72 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $145.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.45. Paylocity has a one year low of $92.99 and a one year high of $164.27.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.22. Paylocity had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 15.23%.The business had revenue of $444.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paylocity will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of Paylocity stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $3,070,241.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,453,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,672,441.10. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 3,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.80, for a total transaction of $493,136.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,057.60. The trade was a 58.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,214 shares of company stock valued at $8,322,580. Company insiders own 19.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paylocity during the 2nd quarter worth $430,315,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paylocity in the fourth quarter valued at $88,428,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Paylocity by 261.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 534,487 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $81,509,000 after acquiring an additional 386,494 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Paylocity during the second quarter valued at about $70,540,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Paylocity by 9.5% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 663,449 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,350,000 after acquiring an additional 57,291 shares during the last quarter. 94.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paylocity

Paylocity Holding Corporation is a provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and workforce management software. Its platform is designed to help organizations manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent, compliance and workforce operations through a unified system.

The company’s products and services include payroll processing, time and labor management, benefits administration, recruiting, onboarding, performance management, employee surveys and workplace communication tools.