Citizens Jmp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) Stock

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Citizens Jmp from $180.00 to $200.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market outperform” rating on the software maker’s stock. Citizens Jmp‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Paylocity from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $168.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Paylocity from $178.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Paylocity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Paylocity from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paylocity currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.65.

Paylocity Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCTY traded up $6.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $175.82. 158,320 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 767,421. The company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.26. Paylocity has a 52 week low of $92.99 and a 52 week high of $178.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The software maker reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $451.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $443.12 million. Paylocity had a net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 27.02%. Paylocity’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paylocity will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, Chairman Steven R. Beauchamp sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.22, for a total value of $2,478,300.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,243,389 shares in the company, valued at $205,432,730.58. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Steven Sarowitz sold 19,459 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $702,672,441.10. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 151,704 shares of company stock worth $25,137,741 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 19.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PCTY. R Squared Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Paylocity by 22.5% during the third quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 3,594 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 2,897 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Paylocity by 88.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,387 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 8,638 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paylocity by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,342 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its stake in Paylocity by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 15,178 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Key Paylocity News

Here are the key news stories impacting Paylocity this week:

• Positive Sentiment: For fiscal Q1 2027, Paylocity reported adjusted earnings of $2.09 per share, ahead of the $1.93 consensus estimate, and revenue of $451.7 million versus $443.1 million expected. Revenue grew 10.7% year over year, while recurring and other revenue rose 12% to $424.5 million. Paylocity Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s full-year outlook slightly exceeded expectations, adding to the positive earnings report. Paylocity’s Q3 CY2026 results and outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets while maintaining Buy ratings: Truist increased its target to $200 from $165, and BTIG raised its target to $210 from $200. The revisions signal improved analyst expectations for the shares. Truist raises Paylocity price target
• Positive Sentiment: Paylocity repurchased $152.5 million of shares during the quarter and reported $850.2 million in cumulative repurchases since May 2024, supporting shareholder returns. It also completed its acquisition of Aidora, expanding its AI-powered leave-management capabilities. Paylocity first-quarter financial results

Paylocity Company Profile

Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll software for organizations. Its platform is designed to help employers manage payroll, human resources, employee benefits, talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, learning, and workforce administration through an integrated system.

The company also offers tools for time and labor management, scheduling, employee communications, engagement, surveys, expense management, and other workplace activities.