Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Paylocity Holding Co. (NASDAQ:PCTY) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $205.13.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PCTY shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Paylocity in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Paylocity in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Paylocity from $197.00 to $186.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Paylocity in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paylocity from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st.

Insider Activity at Paylocity

In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total value of $4,299,716.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,682,383,899.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Steven I. Sarowitz sold 24,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.47, for a total value of $4,299,716.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,587,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,682,383,899.84. 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 on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 $291,572,832.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,547 shares of company stock worth $9,356,359. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paylocity

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCTY. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Paylocity by 12.9% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,798 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Paylocity during the first quarter valued at about $14,007,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 1.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,053 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $13,594,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Paylocity in the first quarter worth about $144,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Paylocity by 88.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 331 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.76% of the company’s stock.

Paylocity Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of PCTY stock opened at $163.96 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $169.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.82. Paylocity has a twelve month low of $139.40 and a twelve month high of $230.52. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.87.

Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The software maker reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. Paylocity had a return on equity of 21.37% and a net margin of 12.96%. The firm had revenue of $326.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.34 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paylocity will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.